Phoenix Rising
by nikipinz
Summary: Sequel to Broken Wings - A message from the Fire Nation sends Katara and Toph on a dangerous mission, with a still more dangerous enemy hot on their heels. Can they hold on to each other when their world falls apart? Katoph, Ty Lara, and general angst XD
1. A Dangerous Game

**Obligatory disclaimer - I do not own Avatar, or any of its characters.**

Katara's eyes drifted open. For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was. Then she felt someone shift behind her, and an arm draped itself around her middle. She smiled, remembering, and inched her own body back until she was cuddled up against Toph. _I'm back in Ba Sing Se._

It was early morning; by the looks of the sky out the window, the sun hadn't risen yet. The waterbender yawned lazily and laid her own arm over Toph's, weaving her fingers in amongst the earthbender's callused ones. She felt rather than heard Toph chuckle. A face nuzzled into her neck from behind, and the skin was nipped lightly. "Good morning, Sweetness."

"Good morning." Katara turned over and looked at her through her lashes. Toph's black hair was tousled, spread out against the white pillow like a lacy fan. A smile twitched the blind earthbender's mouth. Katara laid her finger against the seashell pink of the lips. "Sleep well?"

"Like a rock." Toph nipped playfully at the finger, making the waterbender giggle. "How 'bout you?" The arm around Katara's body pulled tighter.

"Just fine." Katara let her fingers trail lightly from Toph's shoulder down to her waist. "I'd like to be doing something else, though."

"Hey! None of that." The earthbender laughed, catching her by the wrist. "We've got to get up now. I'm sure we both have important things to do, Ambassador Katara of the Southern Water Tribe."

"Hm. Yes, I suppose it would be rude to be late for meetings just because we couldn't get out of bed," Katara agreed. Her eyes sparkling mischievously, she drew her other hand down the side of Toph's neck, bending in to flick at the hollow at the base of her throat with her tongue. "It would be very rude, indeed."

Toph gasped and pulled away, her body rigid. "Knock it off, you!" she said, laughing breathlessly. "I mean it, now, Sugar Queen. We can play later."

"You're no fun." Katara gave an exaggerated pout as Toph got up.

The blind earthbender pulled her tunic over her head and grinned in the waterbender's direction. "No fun, huh? We'll see if you're still singing that same song tonight, Sweetness."

Yawning hugely, Katara sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Mm. I don't do much singing lately, really." Toph smiled a little, fastening the straps of her breastplate. "Ugh, I think we have that meeting with Omashu this morning about the rice imports," she muttered, feeling around on the floor for her dress. "I still don't see why the Water Tribe ambassadors have to be there! We don't even _eat_ rice."

"Because," Toph said calmly, "waterbenders propel all the shipping barges that aren't Fire Nation make, so you need to be there to represent their interests, Miss Ambassador. You know that perfectly well." She strapped her leather bracers onto her arms. "And I have to be there, too, even though I'm neither an ambassador nor a merchant, so suck it up, Princess!" Scowling, Katara flung a comb at Toph's head. The blind earthbender caught it, laughing. "Nice try."

"_You_ are infuriating." The waterbender wrapped her dress around herself and bound her belt around her waist.

Grinning, Toph ran her fingers through her hair, letting it fall back into her eyes. She waved as she went out the door. "See you later, Sweetness! I'll save you some tea at breakfast."

"Oh, shut up! Just because _you_ don't have to do your hair…" Katara laughed, unraveling her hair and beginning to braid it.

By the time she got downstairs, Toph had already breakfasted. The earthbender got up as Katara sat down at the table. She moved to kiss the Water Tribe woman on the cheek. "See you at the meeting, Ambassador!" she said cheerfully. Katara made a face, and Toph headed off, grinning.

It had been nearly two weeks since Katara had returned from the Fire Nation. In her absence, Toph had arranged for her to be made the official Southern Water Tribe ambassador to Ba Sing Se, much the same role that she had played in Zuko's court. The work here was much easier; there was no bad blood between the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom. Unfortunately, it was also rather boring much of the time. Most of her work here consisted of negotiating labor contracts and import/export deals. With a sigh, Katara finished her breakfast and headed for the palace.

The rice meeting was about as dry and boring as Katara had expected. When it finally was adjourned (all having agreed to a 2 per cent wage increase and a 5 per cent tariff), she was only too glad to leave the palace and head for Ty Lee's house.

Ty Lee had wound up spending only a few days in Toph's mansion after Katara had returned from the Fire Nation. They'd found her a small house in the Inner Circle of Ba Sing Se, not too far from the Bei Fong estate. She was living there quietly now, still doing what physiotherapy Katara could lead her through. Some of her deep depression seemed to have lifted.

Katara found the girl in her wheelchair by a window. She turned to the waterbender with a smile. "Hey, Katara!" she said. "Look what I'm learning." She held up something small and colorful. The waterbender moved forward and took it; it was a small strip of weaving, made from bits of red and blue cloth. "Neat, huh? If I can get good enough at this, maybe I can actually make some money of my own again, and not just have to live off other people."

The ambassador gave it back with a smile. "That sounds good," she said gently. "But don't worry too much about the money thing, all right? It's okay. I really don't mind helping you out, Ty Lee."

The former acrobat looked away. "I know. It's not that I'm ungrateful," she said. "It's just that…I'd rather be contributing _something. _I don't want to be a charity case for the rest of my life."

"Of course you don't." Katara could see that the topic was making the invalid uncomfortable. "So -! Are you ready for today's session, Ty?"

"Sure." Ty Lee smiled timidly. "Let's do it!"

When the acrobat had first been injured, Katara had been certain that she would never walk again. This diagnosis hadn't changed, exactly, but there were some more hopeful signs now. Ty Lee had regained most of the feeling in her legs, and had recently been able to twitch her feet a little bit. Katara had changed her rehabilitation program to include more movement of her legs.

Quietly, Katara knelt down and began to manipulate Ty Lee's limbs. "Push against my hand," she instructed, pressing her palm to the ball of the girl's foot. "Push!" And she smiled a little as she felt the movement. "Good girl."

Her mind wasn't entirely on her work. _Is it going to happen again today? _She moved on to the acrobat's other leg. _Am I more scared that it will, or that it won't? Oh, spirits, Katara, this has got to stop. _"Good, Ty Lee! Good. This foot feels stronger already. Keep it up!" Her cheerful tone belied her thoughts.

Slowly, the waterbender rose and took the acrobat's arm. "Pull against my hands. –Good." She was very conscious of Ty Lee's closeness now. _It's going to happen again. I can feel it. I should stop this now…I really should…_ Instead, Katara moved to the invalid's other arm. She stooped over the acrobat, holding the arm bent at the elbow, resting her own hands against Ty Lee's wrist and upper arm. "Pull, now. Pull hard!" She could feel the girl's breath against her neck. Her eyes closed…

Ty Lee's mouth brushed lightly against her jawline. The waterbender inhaled deeply; her hands released. She felt the acrobat's fingers weave into her hair, pulling her down. A moment later, their lips met, and she groaned softly.

_Gods, no. _Katara let her jaw go slack as Ty Lee's tongue pushed between her teeth. _Why can't I stop this? Why am I so damned weak? _The acrobat tasted of spice. She felt her breathing quicken; her hands moved up to grasp Ty Lee's shoulders. She was so unlike Toph, whose movements were nearly always rough! The acrobat's hand caressed the side of Katara's face gently.

At last, the kiss broke. Ty Lee leaned back, breathing hard, her eyes half-closed. The waterbender rubbed at her mouth with her sleeve, as if to remove a taint. "I…think that's a good enough session for today," she said, her voice slightly breathless. "You're, um…improving well."

"Yeah." The acrobat looked at her with a small smile. "You're a good teacher."

_Oh, spirits. _Heat rose up in the waterbender's face. "Thank you." Katara rose to her feet. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you will." Ty Lee leaned back in her wheelchair, her large gray eyes endearingly innocent. "Have a good evening, Katara."

"I will. See you later." The waterbender left the house.

Guilt racked her as she trudged toward the Bei Fong estate. _Gods, if Toph ever found out, she'd be crushed! Why can't I just talk to Ty Lee about it? Why can't I just tell her no? _She shut her eyes and stopped walking for a minute, heedless of the people passing her on the street. It had happened for the first time (not counting the impromptu kiss Ty Lee had given her in the Fire Nation) during their second physiotherapy session together. Katara found Ty Lee's touch strangely intoxicating – not nearly as fiery and all-consuming as Toph's, but delicate and undeniably pleasant.

Drawing a shuddering breath, Katara opened her eyes and kept walking. She drew her sleeve across her lips again, but couldn't remove the lingering sensation of Ty Lee's kiss. _Damn it._

_Just what is wrong with me?_


	2. Trains

Supper was over, and Katara and Toph were enjoying a little rare down time together on a sofa. Toph was sprawled over one end of it, her arms draped out, and her long legs propped up on a coffee table. Katara leaned against her, her legs hugged up to her chest, her head resting against the earthbender's shoulder. She was listening to Toph's heartbeat and smiling a little, her eyes half-closed.

"So," Toph said at length, breaking the silence, "are you liking Ba Sing Se better than the Fire Nation, or did you just come back for me?" She moved her arm down to engulf Katara's shoulders. The waterbender felt its solid weight.

"It's all right." Katara smiled up at her. "You know, when we were kids, you hated this place. What changed?"

The earthbender raised her brows. "Well, it's a different place, now, for one. It used to be all bureaucrats and thought police and weirdness like that, but now it's more or less a normal city. There's still too many rules in the Inner Circle, though." She scowled a little. "Oh, well. You have to take the bitter with the better…" Toph paused then, her mint-green eyes beginning to twinkle with mischief. "Hey, Sweetness, have you got any early morning meetings tomorrow?"

"No. I actually don't have anything tomorrow, except for Ty Lee's exercise session. Why?" Katara twisted her head around to look up at her.

"I want to show you one of my favorite things to do here," the earthbender said. "Go get changed into normal clothes. Try to look as much like some regular woman as you can, all right? Nothing that would tell people who you really are. Meet me at the front door when you're done."

"All right." Katara was mystified, but went to do as Toph asked. She changed into a simple blue robe and took most of the beads from her hair, leaving only two blue ones. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she had to smile; although older, she looked like she had looked when she was traveling with Aang before the end of the Hundred Year War. Patting down her sleeves, she headed downstairs.

Toph was there waiting for her. She was wearing a tight-sleeved gold shirt under a sleeveless green tunic; a dark green sash was tied around her waist. "You ready for a treat, Sugar Queen?" she said.

"Sure. Where are we going?" Katara wanted to know.

"You'll see. – Oh, and bring your water skin! We might see some trouble."

The waterbender frowned as she slung the object over her shoulder. "Toph, did you go and enter us into a streetfighting match again?"

Laughing, Toph shook her head. "Man, I enter you in _one contest, _and you're still grousing seven years later! Besides, we spanked the competition," she said. "No, it's nothing like that. Come on. I'll show you how to have a good time in Ba Sing Se!"

The two of them caught the train to the Outer Circle of the city. Once there, Toph led Katara through the winding streets. The neighborhood was poor, and Katara saw many bedraggled and dangerous-looking people glower at them as they passed. She watched them coolly, loosening the cork of her water skin, but no one actually attacked them.

"Here we are!" Toph said suddenly, stopping. They were in front of a very rough-looking bar. She grinned in Katara's direction. "This place has the best Earth Kingdom stout in the city. And some pretty good Fire Nation whiskey, too, if you're into that!"

"Sure. Why not." Katara raised a brow.

Toph laughed. "Come on, Sweetness! Live a little." She grabbed Katara by the arm and half-dragged her inside.

If it was possible, the inside of the place was even seedier than the outside. Katara followed Toph to the bar, where the earthbender confidently ordered two mugs of dark beer. The waterbender perched herself on a bar stool, her gaze sweeping the room. It certainly wasn't upper-class, but Katara found herself rather enjoying the look of the place. It appealed to the scrappy peasant girl she had once been – and still was, really, underneath the layers of refinement. She flashed Toph a smile as their drinks arrived. "I can see why you like it here."

"Can you, now?" The blind earthbender took a deep swallow from her mug and grinned mischievously. "I don't think you can – yet." She still had one bare foot resting on the floor; she rubbed it against the stone. "Just keep your eye out, Sweetness. The action always starts sooner or later, so heads up!" Katara tasted the dark ale. It was very strong – definitely an earthbender brew. She sipped. _Hm. Not bad._

_Crash! _Katara's head jerked up. Two large men in a corner had leaped up, and were now shouting drunkenly at each other! A chair went flying, striking a man at another table. He roared to his feet and pounded a completely random person in the jaw with his fist.

"_Here_ we go!" Toph's blind eyes were sparkling as she got up. Fistfights were erupting all over the place. "Hop in, Sweetness, the water's great!"

"Toph!" Katara was about to protest, when suddenly something flew at her head! She ducked and spun to face her assailant, whipping the cork from her water skin. She had a moment's vague impression of a tattooed, grimacing face above her. A fist connected with her jaw, throwing her backward! Katara planted her feet and let loose a sizzling whip of water. Down went her opponent!

She didn't have any time to relish her victory. There were punches and kicks flying everywhere – and that wasn't counting the chairs and tables and random pieces of pottery hurtling about! Several times, Katara took a shot, but nothing too damaging.

"_Dai Li! _They're here!" The shouts began at the door.

Katara stopped, turning her head to look, and saw green-robed figures beginning to take down the drunken brawlers nearest the entrance. A hand grabbed her forcefully by the arm, and she found herself being dragged out the window. "Run, Katara. _Run!" _Toph released her and bolted. Without a word, the waterbender followed. They fled all the way to the train station, stopping only when they had collapsed into their seats. The tram began to move.

Toph was laughing, slumped down in her seat, a broad grin painted across her face. "Oh, _spirits, _do I love that place!" she cried, her breath coming in gasps. "Now _that_ is how to have a good time. Whatcha think, Sweetness?"

The waterbender turned in her seat to stare at the blind earthbender. Toph's chin was bloody from a cut on her lip, but her cloudy eyes were shining with fierce joy. "Toph Bei Fong, you are the biggest fool I've ever met in my life! We could have been arrested. We could have been killed!" Katara stopped, and couldn't help laughing.

"But you had fun, right?" Toph looked hopeful.

"Yes!" The waterbender rubbed her own face, and found blood on her hands. She giggled. "I did have fun. Oh, Toph, we're both insane!"

"We're made for each other. Oh, yeah." The earthbender threw a muscular arm around Katara's shoulders and squeezed her. "You wanna do it again tomorrow?" And they both laughed as the train sped them toward home.


	3. Forbidden Fruit

"Wow, what happened to you?"

Ty Lee's eyes were round as she surveyed Katara. The waterbender had rolled out of bed late after her night of carousing with Toph, and hadn't really had time to heal herself yet. She touched her bruised cheekbone self-consciously. "I, uh…well, I got in a fight, I guess."

The acrobat raised her brows. "Wow, really?" She reached out a hand to gently trace the contours of the bruise. "What did the other guy look like?"

Katara laughed. "I'm not sure," she said, shrugging. "I'm fine." She gently deflected Ty Lee's hand. "How are the leg exercises coming? Do you notice any improvements?"

"Not bad." The acrobat smiled. It was very like her old cheerful expression, with only a hint of sadness still lingering in her gray eyes. "I can wiggle all of my toes, now."

"Good!" Katara moved forward. "Let's start the session, then." She knelt down and began to guide the acrobat through her range of motion exercises.

_How did this all start to happen? When did it begin?_ She thought back to the day when Ty Lee had fallen next to the unconscious Azula. _I went to her first. Did I feel anything for her then? No. No, it was just my being a healer, and not wanting to touch Azula…_ She bent Ty Lee's leg at the knee, encouraging her to move it. _How about when I was nursing her in those months afterwards? I felt…pity. I pitied her. I thought she didn't deserve to die, that Azula had twisted and manipulated her all her life. But did I feel for her? Did I?_ Katara smiled over the growing strength of Ty Lee's movements. _What do I feel for Ty Lee, anyway? Is it love? It's different from how I feel about Toph. Toph is…intense. I care so deeply for her that it hurts! Ty Lee is…safe. Sweet. She's like a soft bed at the end of a really exhausting day._

"Katara?" The waterbender looked up to find the acrobat's gaze on her. Ty Lee looked sad; her face was drawn. "Can we skip the rest?" she asked softly. "My back hurts, and I'm…I'm just tired."

A little startled, Katara nodded. "Of course, Ty. You've worked hard; we can let you rest for one day."

Ty Lee lowered her head. "I'd like to lie down."

"All right. Let me help you." The waterbender pushed the young woman's wheelchair into her bedroom. Ty Lee's body felt light in her arms as she helped her to lie down. She felt a twinge of worry. _I'd better make sure she's eating properly, she still seems pretty frail._ "Is that better, Ty?"

"Yeah. Thanks." The former acrobat groped for Katara's hand as the waterbender started to move away. "Wait! Don't go. Please, just…talk to me."

Katara looked at the girl more closely. "Are you all right, Ty Lee?" she asked gently.

"No. Not really." The invalid let go of Katara's wrist, turning her eyes away. "I'm just lonely, I guess." She bit her lips. "I'm never going to see Mai again, am I?"

Guilt flooded Katara's heart. The Fire Lady had entrusted her to carry this message to Ty Lee, and she had never done so, for fear of hurting the devastated girl even more. With a sigh, she slowly pulled a chair up to the bedside and sat down. "No, Ty," she said softly. "You won't."

"She said so?" The acrobat looked at her. There was no surprise in her face.

"Yes." Katara bit her lip.

"I thought as much." Ty Lee nodded sadly. "She is the Fire Lady, after all. But all the same, I couldn't help…hoping." She traced the pattern on her blanket with her fingers. "Katara, I know I did horrible things. I'm not trying to defend myself, okay? But I just…what else could I have done?" Tears began to flow down Ty Lee's face. "I didn't want to die. I didn't want Azula to hurt my family! I…I didn't know what else to do."

The waterbender didn't know what to say. She took the acrobat's hand in hers and stroked it silently.

"I really didn't," Ty Lee whispered, her face turned away. "It was like when she first came to me at the circus and made me part of her elite team. She came…I was at the palace, visiting Mai. I was in one of the gardens, practicing my handstands, and suddenly she was just there! I don't know how she got in, when she wasn't even supposed to be in the Fire Nation at all. She told me she needed me to come to her in Ba Sing Se. She told me to tell Mai that I was going back to the circus, and to come to Ba Sing Se, and she would find me."

Katara nodded slowly. "Why didn't you tell the Fire Lord?" she asked quietly.

"Because she would have killed me," the acrobat said simply. Her tears were still flowing, but her voice was steady. "She told me so, Katara. She knew where my family was. She…" Her voice trailed off.

The Water Tribe woman brushed Ty Lee's forehead with her hand. "I fought for your life because I thought you deserved a chance to choose for yourself," she said. "To some extent, you did choose to harm and betray people. But I think a lot of that had to do with Azula, and that you want to do better."

"I do!" Ty Lee agreed fervently, turning her eyes back on Katara. "I do want to do better. But I…I don't know how I can." Her face crumpled. "I miss home. I miss Mai."

Impulsively, Katara leaned down and enveloped the girl in a hug. Ty Lee clung to her, burying her face in her shoulder. She didn't sob, but her tears soaked into Katara's robe. "You'll be all right, Ty," the waterbender murmured, her heart breaking. "I'm here for you. I promise."

Ty Lee abruptly unfolded herself and pulled Katara's head down. The waterbender knew what was coming; she let herself be drawn into the kiss. It was unlike the soft, experimental ones before it. Ty Lee's mouth was hungry, insistent. Katara vaguely realized that she should pull away, even that she shouldn't take advantage of the former acrobat's vulnerability, but the thought was lost in a haze of desire. She gave herself up to Ty Lee's touch.


	4. Distance

Katara sat on Toph's bed, her legs dangling off the side of it, her arms wrapped around herself. She was both confused and very thoroughly miserable.

The earthbender hadn't yet returned home. Katara had eaten a light supper and curtly told the servants that she was going to bed early. She hadn't been able to sleep. Now she was gazing at the wall, her mind full of memories and unanswered questions.

_Why? Why did I let her do that? Why didn't I stop her? _The waterbender buried her face in her hands, shivering. _No. No, that's not fair. Ty Lee initiated the whole thing, but I wanted it, too. I went in with my eyes wide open. It wasn't more her fault than mine. _The memories flooded back – the touch of Ty Lee's hands, the soft slick of skin against skin, and her heady, smoky smell, like burning cedar. Katara shivered again as tears welled up in her eyes. _Oh, gods, what have I done?_

There were footsteps in the hallway! Katara quickly lay down, pulling the blankets over herself. Toph entered the room shortly afterward. The waterbender watched through half-closed eyes as the earthbender slipped into her loose sleeping clothes. The bed creaked as Toph lay down; then Katara felt the woman's arm drape itself around her. "Hey, Sweetness," the earthbender murmured. "What's wrong?"

Of course, she knew. Katara squeezed her eyes shut, inhaling deeply. Toph always knew when there was something wrong. "I'm fine," she said, her voice unconvincing in her own ears. "I just…had a hard day."

"Tell me about it." Toph ran her fingers gently through Katara's hair. "You're always telling me that you feel better when you talk about stuff."

"No!" The waterbender's tone was sharper than she had intended. She quickly mellowed it. "I mean, no, that's all right, Toph. It's…it's nothing. Just some upsetting things that Ty Lee told me about." This was, at least, a half-truth.

"Uh huh." Katara knew from her tone that she didn't believe her.

"Toph…" The waterbender turned to face her. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to hurt you." _Another partial truth – guilty conscience, Katara! Guilty conscience! _"I just don't want to talk about it right now. Okay?"

The blind earthbender looked hurt. Her dark brows were drawn down over her eyes. "Okay, Katara," she said quietly. She leaned forward and kissed the waterbender's forehead. "Good night."

"Good night." Katara felt Toph settling down, and the arm around her was warm and comforting. She shut her eyes tightly, and a tear or two squeezed out under her closed lids. _I'm sorry, Toph…_


	5. The Message

Toph and Katara ate breakfast together the next morning. Some of the raw emotion of the night before had faded, and Katara found it much easier to act normal. Toph still looked at her strangely a time or two, but neither of them commented, and the waterbender was content to leave it that way. She bit into her pastry and chewed morosely.

There was a flap of wings at the window! Katara looked up to see a messenger hawk. Her brow wrinkled; its sleek lines and red-tipped tail feathers marked it as a Fire Nation bird. "Hey, Toph, are you expecting a message from the Fire Nation at all?" she asked, rising from her chair and crossing to the window.

"Me? No. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything." Toph sipped her tea, looking bored. "What's it about? Is someone worried about fish exports or something?"

Katara gently opened the leather tube attached to the hawks' middle and pulled out the message inside. It bore a red seal, stamped with a dragon; her eyes widened. "Hey, this is from one of the royals." She turned it over, and saw her own name on it. She recognized the neat, precise handwriting of Mai. "Yeah, it's the Fire Lady, all right."

"What's up?" The earthbender actually put her tea down, looking a bit more interested. Taking the paper back to the table, Katara broke the seal and opened it.

_Katara,_

_Forgive the abrupt nature of this message, but it is absolutely vital that you receive and act upon it as soon as possible. I will be brief._

_The Earth King will be receiving the official communiqué at about the time that you receive this. Two events have unfortunately coincided, and it's very likely they're related. First: the Avatar has been discovered in the Northern Water Tribe. She is a little girl by the name of Chanya. This would ordinarily have been good news, but for the second event._

_I will be blunt. Azula has escaped. Her whereabouts are unknown, but there are two things she is likely to try to do now that she is free again. She will either go after the new Avatar (since she still has a vested interest in seeing the world under Fire Nation control), or she will try to find Ty Lee (and I'm sure I don't need to tell you why that would be bad.)_

_I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the promise you made me, Katara. Protect Ty Lee! I promise we are doing everything in our power to apprehend Azula again. I also ask – as a personal favor to myself and to my husband, as you are an old ally of ours – that you and Toph go with the envoy to bring the Avatar here to the Fire Nation. She will be safe here. King Kuei will brief you further on this._

_I pray that our correspondences will not always be so unfortunate as this one._

_Fire Lady Mai_

Katara felt her mouth go dry. "Azula's escaped."

"_What?" _Toph's teeth gritted. "Oh, for…why in the _fuck_ didn't Zuko just take her damn head off?"

"That's not all," Katara said softly. "The Avatar's been found, and Mai thinks Azula's going to go after her."

The earthbender let her arms drop onto the table, and rested her forehead on them. "Why do I sense that there's something more to this that you're not telling me, Katara?"

"There is." The waterbender slowly put the message in her pocket. "She and Zuko are asking us to go to the North Pole to get the new Avatar and bring her to the Fire Nation. They think she'd be safer there."

"Oh, _damn." _Toph groaned in agony. "That place is nothing but snow and ice and water. There's no decent rocks for miles around there! Doesn't the Fire Nation have any of its own people to send?"

"They want to send people they trust." Katara rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I don't think there's very many people that she and Zuko really _trust." _She got up. "I'm going to get Ty Lee. Tell the king I'll be there as soon as I've made sure she's safe." Toph frowned a little. "Mai asked me to make sure she's all right, okay?" Katara said defensively. "Azula might come after her. Just…I'll be there soon." Without waiting for a response, she headed out the door.

There was honest fear welling up in Katara's heart as she made her way through the streets. _Azula has escaped. Her whereabouts are unknown… _Her pace quickened, her heart beating faster. _Gods! I'll have to take Ty Lee with us to the North Pole, just to keep her safe. What if…what if she's already here?_

As early as it was, Ty Lee was already up when Katara burst in. The acrobat stared at her in bewilderment, her large eyes round as she took the waterbender in. "Wha…"

"Ty Lee!" Katara breathed a sigh of relief. _Thank the spirits, she's all right. _"Listen. I've just had a message from the Fire Nation. Azula's escaped from prison."

The invalid's face turned the color of ashes. Katara took a quick step forward, in case Ty Lee should faint; for a moment, the acrobat wavered, but then seemed to recover. The girl's mouth opened and closed a few times. "She…she'll come for me," she whispered, her body beginning to shake. "She'll come for me, Katara!"

"She won't find you." Katara scowled. "I promised that I would protect you, Ty Lee, and I will!"

"She'll find me!" Ty Lee's eyes were wide with terror.

"She won't." Katara took the girl's head in her hands and forced her to look her in the face. "She will _not_ find you, Ty Lee. Do you hear me? We're going to protect you." The huge gray eyes seemed to focus on her; Katara lowered her voice. "I told you I would look after you," she said firmly. "Azula won't hurt you. Understand?" Trembling, Ty Lee nodded. "Good." She released the acrobat's face. "We're going to have to leave Ba Sing Se. Toph and I are going on a journey. You'll come with us so we can protect you. Okay?"

"Okay."

Ty Lee slumped down in her wheelchair, her arms wrapped around herself. She looked almost as broken and defeated as she had when she'd been sentenced by the Fire Lord. Katara hunted around, found a cloak, and pinned it around Ty Lee's shoulders. The girl didn't resist. "Let's go," Katara said quietly.


	6. The Journey Begins

The cabin was small. Katara paused in the doorway, looking at it with dismay, as Toph tossed her pack onto the top bunk. There was barely enough space for the beds! "Home, sweet home!" the earthbender quipped, turning a wry smile on her companion. "All ready for our pleasure cruise?"

"Ugh." Katara made a face. "I've spent more time on ships than on land lately!"

"I woulda thought you'd _like_ that, waterbender. Aren't you always waxing poetic about the ocean and how marvelous it all is, or something?"

"The _ocean, _yes. _Ships, _no! I like having some room to move." The Water Tribe woman tossed her own pack onto the bottom bunk, not bothering to enter the tiny room. "Well, at least I'll get to see some snow. I've missed it."

It was Toph's turn to make a face. "Snow," she said scathingly. "_Snow_ and _ice. _Remind me how Lord Sparky and friends managed to persuade me to come on this journey?"

"Oh, relax," Katara said, laughing. "We'll be on this ship most of the time, anyway! You don't have to disembark until we get to the Fire Nation." She paused, raising a brow at the earthbender. "You didn't mind the Fire Nation too much, right?"

"It's all right, I suppose." Toph vaulted up to her bunk with surprising grace and lay on her back. "I'll probably spend most of the trip up here," she said, with a huge yawn. "If I can't see properly, I might as well log some sack time."

"Sack time? It's not even noon! Don't you want to come out and get your sea legs?" The waterbender grinned and shook her head as Toph rolled onto her side. "Well, okay, whatever. Have a nice nap, Sleeping Beauty! I'm going to go make sure Ty Lee's settled in properly." She shut the door behind her.

Ty Lee's quarters were at the other end of the ship, next to the captain's cabin. Her room would normally have gone to the ship's first mate, but he had graciously given it up for her, since it was big enough to accommodate her wheelchair. Katara knocked on the door and poked her head inside. "Hey, Ty. You doing all right?"

The Fire Nation girl was lying on her bed, her knuckles white as she clung to it. She turned a nervous smile to her visitor. "Yeah, I guess." The ship lurched, and Ty Lee's smile disappeared. Her grip on her bedframe tightened. "I kind of wish I was chained up again," she said. "I keep feeling like I'm going to fall!"

"You'll get used to it." Katara smiled encouragingly. "Do you want to come out on deck? It's kind of nice out here."

"Sure. It's boring just staring at the walls in here, anyway." Ty Lee shakily sat up and wrapped her arms around Katara's neck. The waterbender transferred her carefully into the waiting wheelchair. This done, she spread a shawl over the girl's knees. "Katara?"

"Yes?" The waterbender paused.

"Are…are you okay? About yesterday, I mean?" Ty Lee's delicate fingers rested on Katara's. The waterbender looked up to find the large gray eyes watching her curiously. "I just wanted to be sure I didn't force you into anything," the girl said quietly. "I mean, I don't _think _I did, but…"

"You didn't." Katara shook her head firmly. "I…knew." She paused, searching the Fire Nation girl's face. "Are _you_ all right? I felt like maybe I should have told you no."

A faint blush spread over Ty Lee's cheeks, and she looked away. "Oh, I'm okay," she murmured. Her fingers brushed Katara's hand lightly. "I knew what I wanted." Katara's eyes widened at this admission. "I wasn't acting! That's not what I meant," Ty Lee said hurriedly, seeing the waterbender's expression. "I _am _lonely. I _do _miss Mai. But…I do want you, too."

Katara sighed, looking down at the frail, white hand on her brown one. She wasn't sure what to say. _What about Toph? I should really tell Ty Lee that it's over, that we can't keep doing this. _She inhaled deeply. _But how can I say that to her? Gods, I'm supposed to be helping her – I'm supposed to be protecting her! _She slowly stood up. "Well," she said lightly, "let's go for that walk I promised you."

Later, Katara slipped back into the cabin she shared with Toph. The earthbender was sound asleep, her face peaceful, her shaggy black hair falling over her closed eyes. With shaking fingers, Katara brushed the loose strands back from her lover's face. "I love you, Toph," she whispered, leaning in to touch her lips to the earthbender's porcelain cheek. "Oh, gods, I pray that I don't hurt you!"


	7. Falling Deeper

The moon wasn't quite full, but it was close to it. It made the ocean's surface glow with an almost unearthly sheen. Katara could feel its power vibrating through her as she swept her arms gracefully, guiding her water in shining arcs around her body.

She'd been unable to sleep. She usually did have trouble sleeping around the time of the full moon, like most waterbenders. It was worse out on the ocean, though! She smiled ruefully as she drew the water close to her, splitting it into thin ribbons, and then weaving them together again. _I'm in a waterbender's paradise! Tui and La, push and pull, yin and yang – ocean and moon. _Her water froze in a perfect sphere above her, then burst, showering her in glimmering ice fragments that tingled on her skin. She breathed deeply and coaxed it back into its liquid form. It flowed easily back into the water skin at her side. With a sigh, she slipped the cork into its place.

"Nice!" Katara jumped, startled, and turned her head. Ty Lee was watching her from the doorway of her cabin. The Fire Nation girl smiled a little. "Sorry. Did I scare you?"

"A bit," the waterbender admitted. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep." Ty Lee wheeled her chair a foot or two closer. "I only caught a minute or two of what you were doing. It looked really neat," she said shyly. "Could you show me some more? I've never really seen a master waterbender at work before."

"Well, all right." Katara couldn't help but be a little flattered. _Maybe I'll show off a little. _She turned toward the side of the ship and extended her hands. A long stream of seawater rose from the surface of the ocean beneath and whirled around her body. Clenching her hands, she formed it into a stream of ice – then she stepped forward and brought her arms together, and the ice collapsed back into water, flying up in a wave. Lastly, with a flourish, Katara let most of the seawater fall back into the ocean, retaining only a small sphere of it, no bigger than the palm of her hand. She froze it into a perfect crystal ball, which she held out to the watching acrobat.

Ty Lee beamed. "Wow! That was great!" She took the ball of ice and looked at it curiously. "It must be so much fun to be able to bend," she said wistfully. "I never could make so much as a spark, myself."

"Sometimes it is," Katara agreed. She looked out at the horizon, where the jet-black sky met the slate-black of ocean, and smiled. "On nights like tonight, it's more than fun! It's…it's…indescribable." She raised her blue eyes to look up at the moon. She thought of Yue, and wondered what it must be like to be the moon?

"Well, since we both can't sleep, we could talk," Ty Lee suggested, jerking her head back in the direction of her cabin.

Katara paused, biting her lips. She suspected that she knew what Ty Lee's invitation might mean. She looked back toward the room that she shared with Toph. "I…I don't know," she faltered. "I…"

"Katara." The acrobat smiled gently. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. You know that."

The waterbender felt like crying. She looked back again. "I don't want to hurt Toph!" she pleaded.

"Then don't," Ty Lee said patiently. "Did I ask you to?" Katara bit her lips harder, trying to sort out her thoughts. Then the acrobat's hand was on her arm, trailing gently down to her wrist, making her breath catch sharply in her throat. "Katara, please," she whispered. "I don't want to be alone. Do you?"

_No. I don't. _The waterbender closed her eyes. Lately, she hadn't been able to be near Toph without being consumed by guilt. _I don't want to be alone. But I love Toph! I love her…_ Ty Lee's slim hand twined in with hers. _Ty Lee needs me. It's not like she's ever forced me into anything! Maybe…maybe we can just keep this a secret. _Slowly, she clasped her tanned fingers over Ty Lee's white ones. "Okay," she said softly. "Lets go…talk."


	8. The War Room

The air had gotten steadily colder as the ship sailed northward. For the first week, it had been bearable. In the second week of travel, it had become necessary to switch their Earth Kingdom clothing with the heavier Water Tribe clothes they had brought with them. The first icebergs had appeared on their sixteenth day of travel. Now they were maneuvering through a maze of ice.

It was so cold, in fact, that even Toph had relented so far as to wear shoes.

Katara smiled, looking out on a landscape that looked much like the village where she had grown up. Her eyes ran over the jagged edges of the ice with pleasure; she breathed out, enjoying the puff of white that hovered in the air. "I thought it would be hard to get used to this again, after having been in the Fire Nation for so long," she said. "I was wrong. This is great, Toph!"

The earthbender scowled. She was standing beside Katara by the railing of the ship, the furry hood of her parka pulled up around her face, her arms wrapped around herself. She looked decidedly grumpy. "And just what the hell's so great about it?" she growled. "There's no earth, there's no rocks, I haven't had a decent drink in weeks, and it's cold enough to freeze a fucking firebender."

"Aw, is widdle Toph cold?" Katara threw her arms around the frowning earthbender and snuggled her. "Maybe Katara can warm her up."

"Hey!" Toph tried to push her away. The waterbender easily slipped under the thrusting arm and stood on her toes to place a quick kiss on the corner of Toph's mouth. The earthbender uttered something suspiciously like a squeak. "_Hey! _Knock it off," she cried, taking another swipe at her. Katara neatly avoided it and tweaked Toph's nose. "_Katara!" _The earthbender started laughing. "Go away."

"But I bet you feel warmer, don't you?" The Water Tribe woman laughed, slipped around beside Toph, and insinuated herself under the woman's arm, wrapping her arms around the general's waist. "Well, don't you?"

"You bratty little runt!" Toph crushed her against her side with one arm, grinning. "Got you. What are you going to do now, huh?"

With a melodramatic sigh, Katara leaned into her. "Well, since I've been captured by the great General Bei Fong, I suppose I'd better surrender."

"Then maybe I'll have mercy, if you're lucky." Toph chuckled and leaned down, capturing Katara's lips with her own. The waterbender closed her eyes, feeling the familiar fire shoot through her. She reached up, threading her fingers through Toph's silky black hair. _A memory - Ty Lee's hands trailed down her arms – she could taste cinnamon…_ With a faint gasp, Katara suddenly broke free of the kiss. The moment was broken. She could see surprise and disappointment in Toph's blind eyes.

"General Bei Fong – Ambassador Katara." As Katara opened her mouth to apologize, a man's voice interrupted. They turned to find one of the Fire Nation soldiers bowing behind them. "We've received an important message from the Fire Lord, and will be meeting shortly. Your presence is requested."

"Duly noted." Toph released Katara, changing effortlessly from the simple earthbender to the army general. "In the conference room, I suppose?" He inclined his head. "All right, then. Come, Ambassador." With a sigh, the waterbender nodded and followed.

The "conference rooms" on Fire Nation navy ships had once been called "war rooms." As Katara took her seat at the table, she couldn't help but wonder if this very vessel had ever menaced the Southern Water Tribe. Had Fire Nation generals plotted against her home at this table? She brushed its polished surface absently with her hand. _Strange, how things change. Ten years ago, it would have meant death for me to be anywhere near this ship, let alone this room._

The captain of the ship, a man named Xiaoshen, rose to his feet and cleared his throat. "As you all know, we will reach the Northern Water Tribe tomorrow morning. We have received a more detailed report from the Fire Lord that outlines exactly what we're dealing with." He laid his hand on the papers that lay before him on the table. "I'm sure that some of you have heard rumors that former Fire Princess Azula has escaped from prison. The rumors, unfortunately, are true. This is the reason that we have been sent to bring the new Avatar to the Fire Nation; Fire Lord Zuko believes that his sister will attempt to harm the Avatar." Katara glanced at some of the others around the table. She could tell from the pallor of their faces which ones hadn't known these facts.

Toph turned her head so that her ear was aimed toward him, her cloudy green eyes on the tabletop. "Does he say when exactly Azula escaped, Captain?"

"Not in this message," Xiaoshen said, "but in a previous communication, it was mentioned that she escaped two days before this ship set sail for the north."

The earthbender grimaced. "So Azula could have had a good head start on us, then."

"Unfortunately, yes." The captain looked grim. "However, it is hoped that she first headed for Ba Sing Se, since her former associate, Ty Lee, was there. If that is the case, then we have a twelve-day head start on _her, _since it takes two weeks to sail from the Fire Nation to the Earth Kingdom."

"Hm." Toph frowned, but fell silent.

Xiaoshen swept the assembled people with a stern glance. "I don't need to tell all of you that Azula is a very dangerous enemy. Whether it's likely or not, we will proceed as if she is in the area. When we disembark from this ship, we will do so in defensive formation. The Northern Water Tribe will have master waterbenders at readiness." He patted the papers again. "Fire Lord Zuko thinks it best if the transfer of the Avatar is done swiftly, and without ceremony. Any delays would play into Azula's hands, no matter where she is."

The plans were laid out in more detail. Katara listened closely. As the meeting ended, a disquieting thought occurred to her. She turned to the earthbending general as she rose from her seat. "Toph." The blind woman paused. "Everyone's talking as if Azula's stowed away on a ship. What if she isn't?"

"What do you mean?" Toph frowned.

"I mean," Katara said softly, "what if she's taken a war balloon?" Toph's eyes widened. "It's possible, isn't it? I mean, Azula's quite capable of flying one. And she'd prefer its superior speed, wouldn't she?"

"She might." The earthbender pursed her lips. "That's something to think about…" She sighed and shook her head. "Ugh! This is all Zuko's fault. If he'd just slit that psychopathic bitch's throat when he had the chance, we wouldn't have to deal with all this garbage!" And Katara, still thinking uneasily about war balloons, was inclined to agree.


	9. Chanya

The Northern Water Tribe was still as spectacular a sight as Katara remembered. The mighty wall of ice that shielded the Tribe from the elements (and possible attack) was massive, towering above the considerable bulk of the Fire Nation warship. The Water Tribe symbol was carved into the ice wall in several places; its surface gleamed in the morning light.

Katara smiled sadly, remembering her own home. She knew (from Sokka's letters) that the Southern Water Tribe's rebuilding efforts were making progress. All the remaining members of the Tribe had come together in one place, and had built up a small city. But she wondered – as she watched the waterbenders open the mighty wall before them – if her people would ever truly recover from the ravages of war.

"Ready, Katara?" Toph had appeared beside her. She was wearing her armor over her fur-lined tunic, and looked very much like the general she was.

"Yeah. I'm ready. This whole _place_ is my weapon." The waterbender smiled a bit. She wasn't wearing armor, and didn't even need her water skin.

"Must be nice," Toph muttered. She seemed uneasy; Katara could see her scraping the sole of her foot across the deck of the ship every now and then. "I just hope this transfer goes smoothly! I don't know how much I can fight here. If Azula shows up…"

"Let's just hope she won't." Katara saw the ship's captain give the signal. "There it is! Let's go, Toph."

A small boat was moving toward the Fire Nation vessel from inside the Northern Water Tribe's wall. Katara chewed her lip. They had decided not to leave the ship at all, and simply take the little girl and sail off. The less time spent in one place, the better – and that would hold true, no matter _where_ Azula was!

The ship's benders and soldiers had positioned themselves around the warship's perimeter, ready for anything. Katara and Toph stood by as the boat pulled up alongside the ship. Ropes were cast down, and the boat was slowly drawn up. Katara's eyes flicked around, watching for any unusual movement. Beside her, she could see Toph shifting her feet into a bending stance.

At last, the little boat was level with the deck. A young man stepped off it, turning his eyes to where Xiaoshen stood. He was very much a Water Tribe man, with tanned skin and dark-brown hair. "Good morning," he said, and his face was hard and suspicious as the Fire Nation captain returned his greeting. "I was told that there would be a Water Tribe master here to receive the girl."

Katara's brows went up. _I guess that would be me. _"I am a master waterbender," she said, dropping out of her stance and stepping forward. "Ambassador Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe."

"Katara?" The young man's eyes widened a fraction. "The same Katara who trained under Master Pakku? Avatar Aang's waterbending master?"

"The same." Katara inclined her head. "This is General Bei Fong of the Earth Kingdom, and this is Captain Xiaoshen of the Fire Nation." She paused. "How is Master Pakku?"

"I'm afraid he passed over two years ago." The man bowed. "I am Master Kamik, Master Pakku's successor." Katara nodded slowly. She wasn't surprised; Pakku had already been an old man when she had trained under him nearly eight years before. "And this," Kamik added, sweeping his arm back at the boat, "is Chanya." Katara turned her eyes in the direction he was pointing.

A little girl stood on the deck of the ship, her hands tucked into the sleeves of her parka. She was about seven years old. Her face was delicate, her eyes large and rather a startling shade of blue. She bowed a little as the Water Tribe woman looked at her. "Master Katara," she said softly.

"Hello, Chanya." How tiny the girl was! Katara was almost alarmed at how vulnerable she looked. She smiled reassuringly and held out her hand. Gravely, the little girl moved forward and laid her mitten in Katara's palm. "Welcome," the waterbender said softly. "It's an honor to meet you, Chanya."

Xiaoshen cleared his throat. "Thank you, Master Kamik," he said. "The Fire Lord sends his greetings."

"I'm sure he does." Kamik shot the captain a cool glance. Katara winced a little. _There's still a lot of bad blood between our Tribes and the Fire Nation…_ "Send the Fire Lord our greetings as well, if you will, Captain." He looked at Katara again, significantly. "We place the Avatar in your care."

Katara almost groaned. _What is with people always putting things in _my _care? _"Chanya will be safe with us, Master Kamik," she said.

"I hope so." The man turned away and got back into the small boat. "May Tui and La smile upon you." The sailors began to lower the boat back into the water below.

Toph reached down at took Chanya's other hand. "We'd better get her out of the open," she said to Katara, her voice low so that the child wouldn't hear. "Let's go put her with Ty Lee for now. She should be safe enough there."

"All right." Katara squeezed Chanya's fingers. "This is Toph Bei Fong," she said quietly. "She's my friend. We're going to take you to meet someone else, okay, Chanya?" The little girl nodded soberly, and they headed down into the bowels of the ship.

They had placed Ty Lee in the safest area of the warship – the brig. The room had been cleaned up, and various homey touches (a quilt, a couple of stools, and an oil lamp) had been added. The door was wide open, but it still looked unmistakably like a prison. The former acrobat was in her wheelchair with a book across her knees. She looked up as Katara and Toph approached. "What's happening?" she whispered, her eyes huge with fright. "Has she...?"

"The transfer is done. We're heading for the Fire Nation." Katara smiled reassuringly. "Ty Lee, this is Chanya of the Northern Water Tribe. Chanya, this is Ty Lee."

The former acrobat breathed deeply; Katara watched the tension drain from her face. She looked at Katara, mouthing "Avatar?" The Water Tribe woman nodded. Ty Lee looked down at the little girl and smiled a bit. "Hello, Chanya," she said.

"Hi!" The child favored Ty Lee with a smile. She released Katara and Toph's hands and moved forward; her little brown fingers rested on Ty Lee's knee. "How come you can't walk?" she asked. "Did the Fire Nation hurt you?" Katara winced, and heard Toph's sharp intake of breath.

Ty Lee's face twitched a little. "No," was all she said. "I got hurt because I was doing something bad."

"Really?" Chanya looked sober as she considered this. "Were you sorry afterwards?" she said at last.

The acrobat looked up at Katara and Toph for a moment. "Yes," she said softly. "I was. I was very sorry."

"Good." The child smiled again. "If you were sorry, then I can play with you."

It was strange to see the two of them together. Katara gazed at the little Avatar, wondering. _If this is the Avatar, then Aang is in there somewhere. _She thought of all the times that Azula had attacked Aang, with Mai and Ty Lee in tow. _I wonder if Chanya will remember her at all? _Ty Lee was showing the little girl the pictures in the book she was reading. Katara looked at the young Avatar again. _Aang. Aang is in this little girl…_

_I wonder if she'll remember me?_


	10. Questions

Katara's tongue stuck out of her mouth a little as she concentrated, her calligraphy brush busily at work. She signed her paper with a flourish, then set down the brush to read what she had just finished writing.

_Fire Lady Mai_

_(May you live long and burn brightly)_

_As I'm sure Captain Xiaoshen has already informed you, we now have the new Avatar in our protective custody, and are approaching the Fire Nation. We should be entering Fire Nation waters one week from today, and be pulling into port the day after that._

_I have a serious matter to ask you about. I'm not sure if anyone has told you of this, but I brought Ty Lee along with us, so that I could carry out both tasks that you requested of me – that Ty Lee be kept safe, and that I be part of the Avatar's escort._

_The problem will, I'm sure, be obvious. Ty Lee is an exiled traitor to the Fire Nation. Does this exile prevent her from entering Fire Nation waters? And, if so, what do you advise that I do? I will follow your advice to the letter, since I have no desire to offend my Fire Nation allies._

_Thank you for your time and attention in this matter._

_Your humble servant,_

_Ambassador Katara of the Southern Water Tribe_

She scrutinized the last two lines, frowning a little. _Well, that might be overdoing the formality a bit, but it's best to be safe. You never know what kind of a mood she might be in. _She rolled the paper up and slipped it into the tube on the back of a messenger hawk. The bird stretched out its wings as she moved to the door, excited to get some exercise. "Take it to Mai, little guy," she said, scratching the back of the hawk's neck before opening the door. With a flurry of wingbeats, the bird sped off, heading west.

With this chore done, Katara glanced around, thinking. Toph, she knew, was meeting with Xiaoshen – she'd mentioned something about comparing war stories. The waterbender decided she would go down and check on Ty Lee and Chanya.

She found the two sitting on Ty Lee's bed, playing a game with a set of colored coins belonging to the acrobat. She paused in the doorway, watching with interest as the child tossed a handful of the discs onto the bedspread between them. "How 'bout that one?" Chanya asked, leaning over them eagerly.

"Well, let's see." Ty Lee tapped her lower lip with her finger as she looked over the scattered coins. "Po, K'un, Chi'en. There are great difficulties in your life, but you should sit tight and not act just yet. Then, once the storm has passed, take the initiative, and you will find a creative solution. Red is dominant – fire is the main element." She cleared them away. "Your turn!"

"I can never remember what the symbols mean," Chanya murmured, disheartened.

"Don't worry about that. Don't try to read them, just…interpret." The acrobat smiled, scooping up all of the coins and shaking them before putting them down in a heap. Grasping a handful at random, she tossed them out. "There! All yours."

The child looked at the scattered coins. There were five of them, laid out roughly in a line, with the third and fourth overlapping slightly. Her brow wrinkled. Katara was struck by how little like a child she seemed. _She's very different from Aang. _"You used to be in fire," Chanya said slowly. "Someone…someone hurt you. Now you have to choose. You'll be happy if you take the right thing."

Ty Lee nodded slowly, a strange smile on her face. "You're very good at this, Chanya," she said. The child beamed at the praise.

Katara cleared her throat. "Glad to see you two are having fun," she said, grinning as two surprised pairs of eyes turned on her.

Chanya's eyes lit up. "'Tara!" The little girl extended a hand to her. Katara took it, letting the child draw her down to sit on the bed. "This is a neat game. Have you ever played it?"

"No. I've seen Ty Lee use it before, though." Katara looked up at the acrobat, raising her brows. "_Ab Intra_, isn't it? The Fire Nation version of the Earth Kingdom runes."

"Mm-hm." Ty Lee scooped up the metal discs and slipped them into their carrying bag. "You really should try it sometime, Katara. It's good to be able to sort out all of your karmic threads. Great for centering and cleansing the aura." She smiled.

"Pfft! No way." Katara grinned and waved a hand. "I'm a waterbender, not some guru of divination. I'll muddle through my – er – 'aura cleansing' by myself."

"The word is 'auric,' and your being a waterbender doesn't have anything to do with whether you can read the _ab intra._ But whatever." Ty Lee shrugged and laid the bag aside. "Chanya was saying earlier that she wants to be a master waterbender someday."

Katara smiled down at the little girl, who was watching her with innocent blue eyes. "I'm sure you will be," she said quietly. "Avatars can master all four elements, you know. The last avatar – Avatar Aang – was an incredibly powerful bender. He could do amazing things, Chanya."

The child nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. Ty Lee says he could fly!"

"That's right. He could." Katara remembered the boy on his glider, and couldn't help smiling at the thought. "He was an airbender."

Ty Lee eyed Katara. "So what's your earthbender doing tonight?"

Now, _that_ was an interesting question. The waterbender looked at her, weighing her tone in her mind. "_Toph," _she said calmly, placing light emphasis on the name, "is meeting with Captain Xiaoshan. They're swapping war stories, from what I hear. I didn't really want to talk about battles."

"I don't blame you. It's bad for the aura." Ty Lee grinned; her hand brushed over Katara's, so lightly that she almost couldn't feel it. "We could do…other things."

"No." Katara withdrew her hand. She noticed the cloud of disappointment in the girl's gray eyes, but she couldn't do it. _I haven't been able to look Toph in the eye for weeks. I'll…well, I'll cool it with Ty Lee for a while. _"Maybe later," she said, by way of a compromise. Ty Lee smiled a bit, placated for the moment.

That was that. Katara rose up from the bed, flashing little Chanya a quiet smile. "It's getting late. I'll see you two later," she said. "Good night." And she went to look for Toph.


	11. A Messenger

Toph was frowning, tapping her fingertip on the Pai Sho board. Katara smiled sweetly, leaning back on her stool to rest her head against the bunk behind her. "Come on, Toph, it's your move. Quit stalling. You _know_ I'm spanking you."

"Are not," the general growled, her dark brows knitting together. "You've fallen right into my trap, Sugar Queen! I'm just trying to decide how fast I want to take you down."

"Ostrich-horse shit." The waterbender grinned broadly. "You might be a con artist from way back, Sourpuss, but I'm not falling for it. You're boxed in, you've lost all your dragon tiles, and I can capture your white lotus tile next move, no matter what you do."

"Oh, you are _so_ going down." Toph's mint-green eyes flashed, and a wicked smile twitched her lips. She reached for the gameboard, then stopped, her head suddenly turning. A moment later, Katara heard it – the piercing note of the ship's alarm. "What the -?"

Without a word, both women sprang up and spilled onto the deck. Katara looked around, scanning the ocean for danger; her eye caught something in the sky to the west. It was a Fire Nation war balloon. "Toph, look!"

"Well, I _would_, Sweetness, but I'm _blind." _The earthbender sounded exasperated.

"It's a balloon. It's coming from the west." Katara peered at it.

"Then it's coming from the Fire Nation." Toph tapped her bare foot against the metal beneath it. Her head turned. "Captain Xiaoshen's over that way – let's go see if he knows anything yet." The two strode toward the bow of the ship, dodging the sailors and soldiers rushing about. Katara cast a glance over her shoulder; she could see a group of eight firebenders guarding the hatch that led down to where Ty Lee and Chanya were. Reassured, she headed to where the captain stood.

The man stood tall, his hands clasped behind his back, his gray eyes fixed on the distant war balloon. Toph moved to stand beside him; Katara watched as she assumed much the same position, her spine ramrod-straight. "We've got a visitor," the earthbender remarked. "Unannounced, I take it?"

"Yes." The captain's eyes didn't leave their approaching guest. "I sent them a hawk a minute or two ago. If we don't get a reply in the next three minutes, we will fire warning shots." His lips tightened. "It's just as likely not a threat," he added quietly. "We are approaching Fire Nation waters, and it's probably just one of the balloons that patrol off the coast. But I thought it best to be cautious, given Azula's…propensities."

"Good thinking," Katara said. "I'd even be suspicious of unannounced tiger seals, with that woman on the loose." She could feel her brows knitting in a scowl. Memories flashed through her mind – of Azula striking Aang with lightning, almost killing the boy; of her laughter as she blasted them with blue fire at the Western Air Temple; of her raging on the battlefield as Sozin's Comet raked across the sky, sending waves of merciless flame ripping through the ranks of her enemies. Katara's jaw set. _I swear, if she's on that balloon, I am going to show her exactly why you do not mess with a master waterbender!_ Her breath came a little faster.

Toph's callused fingers brushed gently against Katara's palm as the earthbender squeezed her hand. "Easy, Sweetness," she murmured before she released her. The waterbender's eyes flicked to her; Toph was staring blankly down at the water below, a faint smile twitching her lips. Katara took a deep breath and looked back up again.

A messenger hawk spiraled down to land on Captain Xiaoshen's outstretched arm. He took the paper from the leather tube, transferring the bird absently to his shoulder as he unrolled it. "The royal seal!" he exclaimed, scanning the message. "They've been sent by the Fire Lord."

"Let me see." Katara leaned over to study the paper. It _was_ sealed with the dragon of the Fire Nation's royal family. She wasn't as familiar with Zuko's handwriting as she was with Mai's, but she thought it looked authentic. "They've got messages for us? Why didn't they just send them by messenger hawk?" she muttered.

Captain Xiaoshen gave her a significant look. "You know the former Fire Princess better than I do," he said. "Azula is certainly aware of predator hawks – if she wanted to intercept certain messages between us and the Fire Lord, she could probably do so."

"Fine, but we should be careful anyway." Toph's expression was grim. "I wouldn't put it past Azula to be able to get her hands on a royal seal."

"Duly noted." The captain nodded.

The balloon slowly pulled close to the warship, hovering about twenty feet above it; grappling hooks were thrown down, and sailors caught them, dragging it slowly down to land on the open deck. Katara and Toph stood ready – the waterbender's blue eyes were riveted to the balloon, watching for any sign of trouble.

A figure in a Fire Nation uniform climbed out, saluting. It was a woman; she looked to be in her late twenties, with dark hair and golden eyes. Despite this, she did _not_ look like Azula. Katara softened her stance a little, glancing at Toph. "Well?"

"It's not Madame Fiery Britches." The earthbender stood up straight, lowering her hands. "I might not feel vibrations as well on this ship, but I can tell that much."

The soldier stepped forward, stopping about ten feet from where they stood, and saluted again in the captain's direction. "Captain Xiaoshen? I bring messages from Fire Lord Zuko." She held up two sealed scrolls. "This one is for you, sir. The other is for Ambassador Katara." Her golden eyes moved to the waterbender.

As she approached, Katara noticed a golden dragon stamped on the shoulder of her red armor. _Imperial bodyguard? I know most of them… _She looked up at the soldier's face again, keenly. "I remember you. You're Ming, right? One of Fire Lady Mai's guards."

"That's right, Ambassador." The young woman bowed respectfully. "I've often seen you at the palace." She extended the second sealed scroll. "Her highness requested that I personally put this in your hands. She also asks that you burn it once you've read it, Ambassador."

"Thank you. I will." Katara broke the seal and began to read. She vaguely heard the captain inviting Ming to make herself at home or some such thing, but her attention was focused on the paper as she unrolled it.

_Ambassador Katara,_

_I have discussed the matter of Ty Lee with my husband, and he has decreed that she may remain on the ship when it enters Fire Nation waters, on the condition that she does so as a prisoner. She must remain in the brig. The death penalty will apply if she does not do so.  
_

_On a more personal note, thank you for watching out for her, Katara. I do appreciate your help in this! Keep her safe. _

_And I know I have already made this clear, but please, tell no one about this, not even your most trusted friends! I'm sure you know what the ramifications would be if it was known that the Fire Lady was in any way associated with an exiled traitor. I'm trusting in your discretion, Katara._

_Stay vigilant. It is almost certain that Azula will try to attack you before you reach the Fire Nation. My husband has instructed Captain Xiaoshen to guard the young Avatar with his life – I ask you to do the same for Ty Lee._

_If any of you have messages you need to send to the Fire Lord or to myself, please send them with Ming. We have reason to believe that any messages sent by hawk are no longer secure, but Ming can be trusted implicitly._

_May Agni watch over you all. Be careful, Katara._

_Fire Lady Mai_

So Mai thought that Azula was going to attack them. Katara's eyes narrowed as she studied the lines of writing. _It is almost certain that Azula will try to attack you…_ Somehow, seeing it in black and white in front of her made it seem very real. The Water Tribe woman set her jaw grimly, thinking of Chanya and Ty Lee. _Let her come. Maybe we can give her more than she bargains for!_

Katara read the letter once more, then looked up. To her surprise, Ming was still standing before her. The imperial guard smiled faintly and gestured – a ball of flame appeared on her palm. "May I help you with that, Ambassador?" Wordlessly, Katara lifted the scroll and held its end in the fire. It crumpled to ashes on her fingertips, and was lost in the breeze wafting from the ocean.


	12. Karma

Katara sat cross-legged on the floor, scowling, watching the two women play with Chanya across the room.

She and Toph had been spending most of their time for the past day or so sitting in this room with Ty Lee and Chanya. Toph was doing it because she felt a responsibility to guard Chanya's life, as she had once guarded Aang's; Katara was doing it because of a secret promise she had made to the empress of the Fire Nation. And both of them were miserable.

To be fair, there were actually _three_ rather uncomfortable people in the room, but only _two_ of them knew exactly why. Ty Lee was still upset with Katara for turning her down a few days before, and because Toph was in the room. Katara was edgy because…well, because her lover and her secret mistress were in the same room together! And Toph, while she was ignorant of the specific reasons that the other two women were so uptight, had definitely picked up on the face that they _were._

The child and the acrobat were playing with Ty Lee's _ab intra_ set again, while Toph listened with some interest. Katara thought that the readings sounded like super-spiritual gobbledygook. Particularly the nonsense coming out of Ty Lee's mouth! "Fourth chakra" – "dominant element" – "flows of chi." Honestly! It was as bad as that superstitious garbage she had once believed from that old woman who read bones…what was her name? Auntie something-or-other. Katara folded her arms across her chest morosely.

"Let's do a reading on Katara." The waterbender looked up to see Ty Lee grinning wickedly at her. She tossed a handful of the _ab intra _coins on the bedspread. Toph laughed shortly – she knew how little the waterbender liked this sort of thing. Katara wanted to scowl, but Chanya was looking at her, so she forced a thin smile. "Let's see. Wonder if this will tell us if Katara will be lucky in love?" Ty Lee flashed her another impish smile, knowing that the waterbender couldn't strike back. Her large gray eyes looked down at the discs. Katara watched as her smile faded.

With a sigh, the waterbender rolled her eyes. "What do they say, Ty? Am I going to be trampled by a herd of komodo rhinos? Am I going to be struck by lightning before we reach port? What?"

"No." Ty Lee was actually frowning as she studied the coins. She seemed to have forgotten the presence of the little girl beside her. "Fire is the high element, earth is the low…there's something hidden here, something deceitful." She bit her lip. "Earth being low means instability. Fire usually represents life, but in this formation…I think it means destruction…"

"Mm-hm." Katara rolled her eyes again in disgust. _Next she's going to tell me that earth is an unlucky element for me at this time in my life, and that choosing Fire Nation people in wheelchairs will open my forty-third chakra and cleanse my aura._

There was a gentle rapping at the top of the stairs. Looking up, Katara saw Ming peering down at them. "Ambassador Katara?" she said softly. "I'm heading back to the palace soon. Did you have any messages you wanted me to carry to the Fire Lord for you?"

Katara nodded, the _ab intra_ forgotten, and reached into her pocket for the letter she had written the evening before.

The imperial guard took it with a bow of her head, then glanced at Toph. "General Bei Fong, do you -?"

"Nope." Toph waved her away. "I got nothing I need to say to Sparky."

"Very well." There was a flicker of something between offense and amusement in the woman's amber eyes for a moment. Ming glanced down at the letter Katara had given her. "I assume you wish this placed directly into the Fire Lady's hands, Ambassador?"

"Yes, please." Katara nodded.

"Then I will do so. You can depend on me." Ming saluted smartly. "Good day, Ambassador. I will see you again when you reach the palace." She was gone a moment later.

Katara rose to her feet, dusting off her clothes, and glanced at her companions. She was in no mood to be teased further by the irrepressible Ty Lee, who was still frowning over the _ab intra_ spread. "I need some air," she said curtly, pointedly avoiding Chanya's innocent gaze. "I'm going to go take a walk."

The deck was more or less deserted. Katara ambled aimlessly along it, her eyes on the sunlit ocean. She could feel the presence of the ocean soothing her, but she was still decidedly irritated. _Damn that Ty Lee. She just couldn't keep her mouth shut, could she? "Earth is low!" "Deceit and destruction!" Why didn't she just come out and say, "Dump Toph and sleep with me, woman!" _Katara frowned deeply. She paused, gripping the handrail in both her brown hands, and glared out to sea. _I'll have it out with her later, _she promised herself.

Still scowling, the waterbender turned away from the railing and continued walking. She spotted the balloon, still tied down on the deck, and wondered idly where Ming was. Her blue eyes swept the ship's deck, and finally spotted the young woman heading back the way she had come. Without much interest, Katara turned her gaze back out to sea. A memory flooded back to her, unbidden.

_She was with Zuko, the both of them dressed in black. Her heart had burned with righteous wrath as they approached the Fire Nation ship – the same one that had attacked her village and killed her mother. She remembered how the blackened ocean had responded to her every whim, unleashing mighty waves across the ship's deck, washing the hapless soldiers on board to their watery graves! And then she had bloodbended the ship's captain, cracking his limbs and bending him to the floor until he screamed with pain, before suddenly noticing that he was not the man she was looking for…_

Katara shivered, closing her eyes. She had done a lot of things that she wasn't proud of in her life. That trip with Zuko was one of those things. She had slaughtered those men, bloodbended their captain, and then traveled miles to come within inches of killing the man who had murdered her mother. The whole time, she had been filled with a murderous hatred. It was revenge she had sought then – revenge, pure and simple. And when she finally returned to Aang, weary and broken, she had returned as a murderer, not a warrior. That had been the day she had learned the difference between the two.

She sighed, thinking of of Aang. He had tried to tell her to forgive before she had gone on that ill-fated trip, but she hadn't listened. She wondered what he would have said if he could have seen what she was doing now.

Abruptly, Katara stopped, her attention drawn by a puddle of liquid on the deck of the ship ahead of her. It was beside a door that led to a storage room. She frowned. It seemed the wrong color to be seawater. It was brownish against the black metal. She considered it for a moment, before suddenly realizing what it was.

Blood.

Why would a pool of blood be -? Katara strode to the door and flung it open. On the floor of the storage room lay a young woman with dark hair, her arms and legs bound with ropes. She was dressed in what looked like prison clothes. The waterbender gasped and quickly knelt down, rolling the unconscious girl onto her back. Although her face was streaked with blood, Katara recognized her at once. "Ming!" she cried. Her mind blanked. _Wait. I just saw Ming a few minutes ago…she was heading back toward…who else could have…_

_Azula. _"No!" The scream burst unbidden from her throat. She sprang to her feet, heedless of everything else, and sprinted back to where she had left Toph and Ty Lee.

As if on cue, a tremendous explosion rocked the ship! She saw a jet of flame and smoke burst from the hatch that led down to the brig, and a body went flying. It was closely followed by another, barely visible through the billowing smoke. The metal deck buckled, and shards of it flew at the first figure, which ducked. There was a blast of flame! Katara briefly had time to notice that it was blue before she threw herself down to avoid being burnt to a crisp.

"Katara! Are you okay?" That was Toph's voice. Grimacing, the waterbender scrambled up, summoning a stream of water from the ocean and trying to find their enemy in the smokescreen all around them.

_There she was! _A figure in imperial armor appeared to Katara's right. The Water Tribe woman barely managed to deflect the fireball with an ice shield. It shattered under the impact; she grimaced as tiny shards of ice stung her skin. She hastily drew some of it into a long whip, and struck out with it. Her enemy, however, had vanished. Katara cursed.

Toph, however, spun on her heel and thrust out her hand! The steel floor split and flew in a wave; Katara saw their enemy stumble. Then the figure in imperial armor was running, heading toward the war balloon. "Toph!" Katara cried, beginning to run, herself. "We can't let her get away!"

The deck heaved and split again, the fissure roaring through the metal straight at the feet of Azula. The fleeing figure fell sprawling. She was instantly on her feet again, but not before Katara and Toph moved to box her in against the railing of the ship.

Now, for the first time, Katara could see their attacker. She still looked like Azula, true, but she was an Azula changed – desperate, furious, her hair in wild disarray around her pale face, her golden eyes flaming like a madwoman's. She unleashed a mighty wave of flame with a spinning kick! Toph blocked it with a sheet of metal; Katara managed to duck. Behind them, Katara heard the snapping of ropes – the flames had severed the balloon from the ship's deck. Slowly, it began to rise into the air. Before the former princess could attack again, Toph threw her hand forward, twisting it around in a grabbing gesture. The bottom of the railing behind Azula whipped out like a snake, coiling around the young woman's right leg! With a shriek of surprise and anger, Azula stumbled and fell on one knee.

The bending stopped abruptly. Both Katara and Toph stood at readiness, waiting. Katara could see Azula's arms shaking as she glared at them. Then, slowly, the former princess seemed to recover her composure. "My sources tell me you two have gotten pretty close in the last while," she sneered.

"Shut up, Azula!" Katara was in no mood to have her relationship with Toph smeared by the Fire Nation exile. She sent a wave of water flying at the pinioned woman. Azula managed to duck most of it, but she was still soaked.

Laughing breathlessly – for the water was cold – Azula turned her glaring amber eyes on Toph. The earthbender was snarling, her fists clenching and unclenching in eagerness. "You're very confident in your waterbender's loyalty, General Bei Fong," she said, her voice as sweet and cold as ice cream. "I know I wouldn't let _my_ girlfriend stay alone in a room with Ty Lee." Katara's blood ran cold.

Now it was Toph's turn. "Shut up!' she snarled, kicking her foot at the ground. It split, jerking the firebender to one side.

Despite the fact that this had to have been painful, Azula's smile didn't waver. "You mean you didn't _know_ that Ty Lee loves _everyone?" _she cooed. "She likes men _and_ women, you know. Why don't you ask your waterbender if she hasn't been enjoying Ty Lee's _skills_ while you weren't looking?" And she laughed nastily.

Katara saw Toph freeze. She could feel her own heart hammering in her ears as the blind earthbender turned her face toward her. _She knew. _The look of dawning horror on Toph's face made her feel sick. "T…Toph…"

It only took that instant. Azula blasted the railing with fire, freeing her leg, and fled toward the liberated war balloon, which was now nearly fifty feet away. Leaping into the air, the woman shot out twin jets of blue flame from her feet, propelling her upward. Katara quickly launched a series of ice spears after her, but it was too late. Azula caught the basket of the war balloon and clambered aboard, hand-over hand. The wind caught and bore it swiftly away from the ship. She had escaped.

There was a horrible, sick feeling in Katara's stomach. She stood for a minute or two, staring after the disappearing balloon with unseeing eyes. Then, slowly, with her heart twisting in dread. she turned back to look at Toph.

It was worse than she had thought. The earthbender was down on her knees on the crumpled deck, still facing the spot where they'd had Azula pinned. She no longer looked like the six-foot earthbending war hero that she was – she looked like the tiny, broken little girl she had briefly been after the Battle of Sozin's Comet. Katara stared at her as guilt tore at her insides. "Toph…"

At the sound of Katara's voice, the blind earthbender raised her head, then slowly rose to her feet. There was a tense silence for a moment or two. "How long?" Toph said, without looking at her. Her voice sounded hollow.

"Toph, I never…"

"_How long?" _The general spun toward her, fists clenched, her teeth bared in a snarl.

Tears were streaming down Katara's face. She was barely conscious of them. "I…please, Toph…" The earthbender's face did not soften. Defeated, Katara slowly lowered her eyes. _It's no use lying. Toph will know. _"Since I came back to Ba Sing Se," she whispered.

"Since you came back to live in _my house." _Toph laughed – the sound was brittle. "At least tell me you haven't been sleeping with her?" Katara couldn't speak. The earthbender's face twisted slowly into a loathing and contempt that was somehow even worse than rage. "Gods, how stupid I've been. How _stupid!"_

There was silence again. Neither woman moved. Katara could hear soldiers running and shouting, but she had eyes for nothing but the tall earthbender. "Toph," she managed at last, her voice breaking, "I'm…I'm sorry."

Like an iron wall, Toph's face turned cold. She drew herself up, turning her face away. "Don't talk to me," she snarled. "Don't you _ever_ talk to me again. And if you _dare_ to send me a letter, I swear to all the gods I will hunt you down and make you _eat _it!" She threw her arm out in a gesture of rejection. "Go and fuck your damned Fire Nation slut!" With that, she turned away and stomped off, her green cloak whipping in the wind behind her.


	13. Remorse

It was a dark night. Clouds had covered the moon, and only a few stars peeped out between the inky streaks. It was appropriate, the waterbender thought numbly.

She had finally recovered herself enough to stumble back to the storage room and heal the unconscious Ming. Then a sailor had brought her down to the brig to look at Ty Lee. From what they told her, Azula had attacked without warning, firing a mighty blast of blue flame directly at little Chanya. Toph had been quicker, however, metalbending a shield to deflect the fire. Ty Lee, meanwhile, had grabbed the child and protected her with her own body; the few flames that had gotten through had struck the acrobat's back and left side. The burns weren't serious. And Chanya, although shaken, was unhurt.

When Katara had made sure that both of them were all right, she had moved out onto the deck of the ship again. The sun had been setting by that time. She had made her way to the cabin she had shared with Toph, only to find her bedroll outside the door. This had been no surprise. She had picked it up without a word and went to sit against the ship's railing across from the door. She was still there.

_I guess I should try to find another place to sleep, _Katara thought. She didn't move. As exhausted as she was, she couldn't think of where to go. _I can't go down to the brig…Ty Lee would take me, but how would I explain to Chanya why I have to sleep there? And I…I might cry, yet. I don't want her to have to see me cry._

Everything had happened so fast. The waterbender still felt dazed. She buried her face in her hands and groaned softly. She could still see Toph in her mind's eye – crushed, broken, driven to her knees in pain – pain that _she_ had inflicted! Squirming in self-loathing, Katara uttered a sob. _Oh, spirits, I wish she would have hit me. She should have hit me! I deserved it…she should have beaten me into a bloody pulp. _Another sob broke from her throat, sounding very loud in her own ears.

She wondered if Toph was still awake. She had only ever seen Toph cry a couple of times in her life – she wondered if the tough earthbender might be crying now. _She loved me. She trusted me, and I…I stabbed her in the back. I'm just as much a traitor as Ty Lee. Worse, even! Ty Lee was coerced, but I just…I just did it. Why? What in the hell was I thinking? _Katara dug her fingers into her own hair, ignoring the pain.

_I've lost her. It's over._

_And I have no one to blame but myself._


	14. Fallout

The ship was approaching Fire Nation waters.

Katara paused at the hatch that led down into the brig, taking a deep breath. She really didn't like what she was about to do. She looked down at the chain in her hand and grimaced. _I'm really sorry about this, Ty Lee. _Slowly, she made her way down the stairs.

The former acrobat was lying down, one arm around the form of the sleeping child. She looked up as Katara appeared and put a finger to her lips. The waterbender nodded, then held up the shackles. Ty Lee looked at them quietly. "I take it we're in Fire Nation waters?" she asked softly, and Katara nodded again. The invalid lowered her eyes. "Do what you have to do, then."

"I'm sorry, Ty," Katara said as she moved forward. "I did manage to get one concession for you. So long as you're chained, we can keep the door open."

Ty Lee actually smiled. "It's okay, Katara. I'll be fine. It's just a chain." She glanced at the bonds in the waterbender's hands again. "Arm, or leg?"

"Which would you prefer? I was thinking of your ankle – then you can still do things with Chanya. It might worry her less, too." Katara glanced down at the napping child, her eyes filling with pity. "Have you mentioned anything about it to her, yet?"

"She knows everything. She figured out I was Fire Nation pretty much right away. I told her all about who Azula is and everything, too. Figured she'd need to know eventually." Ty Lee stroked Chanya's dark hair tenderly. "That attack shook her up pretty badly for a while," she murmured. Her eyes darkened. "The war's _over, _Katara. Seven-year-old kids shouldn't have to be afraid for their lives anymore!"

Katara looked away, her jaw working. _My whole generation, we were all children of the war. I grew up knowing things I shouldn't have had to know. We all did. _She looked at Chanya. _Seven years old…by that time, I'd already lost my mother, and my father had gone away to war…_ She took a deep breath. "I have to chain you, Ty Lee."

"Do it, then." The acrobat watched silently as Katara fastened the chain to a steel ring in the wall, and then locked the shackle around her ankle. "Seems kind of stupid to chain up a leg I can't even use," she said at length.

"Yeah. I know." With a deep sigh, the waterbender sat down on the floor, leaning her head back against the bars of the prison.

There was a pause. After a while, Ty Lee propped her head up on her arm and regarded Katara closely. "How are you?"

The waterbender winced. She wasn't even sure how to answer the question. For the past three days, Toph hadn't so much as looked at her. Even in official meetings, the earthbender referred to Katara only in passing, and never addressed her directly. Katara was beginning to think she would have preferred being yelled at. "I'm…fine. I guess. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." Ty Lee gave her another searching look, but didn't refer to it again. She looked back down at the young Avatar, absently stroking Chanya's arm. "If we're in Fire Nation waters, that must mean we're docking tomorrow. Right?"

It was Katara's turn to give her a keen glance. The acrobat's tone was neutral, but Katara could see the pain in the set of her jaw and the misting of her gray eyes. "Yes," she said quietly. "We should be pulling into port before noon tomorrow." She hesitated, wondering if she should proceed. "Are…are _you_ all right?"

"Kind of." Ty Lee gave her a sidelong glance. "It's hard to be so close to home without actually being there, I guess. Sort of like salt in my wounds." She smiled bitterly. "I don't suppose I'd be allowed to go on deck and look at it, huh?"

Biting her lips, Katara looked away. "No, Ty," she said gently. "The Fire Lady was pretty clear on that point. So long as you're in prison, you're safe. If not, you'd probably be killed."

"Figures." The Fire Nation girl laid herself back down and kissed the top of Chanya's head. "I'm going to miss this little one," she murmured. "It's been nice having her here. She's helped me to forget."

"Yeah." Katara couldn't help wishing that she had something to help _her_ to forget. The image of Toph's pain-twisted face rose up before her mind's eye. She flinched, closing her eyes. _Gods, I'm scum. _She sighed deeply, feeling the ship rocking underneath her. "Ty…we need to talk about everything. Later, I mean. When we can talk in private."

"I know we do." The girl's enormous gray eyes were dull. "I think I already know what you want to tell me, Katara."

The waterbender felt her insides wrench. _Great. Now I'll just tear out Ty Lee's heart by the roots and stomp on it, as if she hasn't been kicked around enough in the last few months. You've handled this situation perfectly, Katara. Great going, diplomat. _"Maybe," she said. "But we still need to talk about it." The Fire Nation girl nodded wordlessly. With a sigh, the waterbender rose to her feet. "I have to go train for a while," she said quietly. "I'll see you later." She dropped a kiss on Ty Lee's cheek and turned away.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, oblivious to the gray clouds in Katara's soul. She walked slowly to the deck where the war balloon had once been anchored and began to run mechanically through her kata, her arms and legs moving without conscious thought. The water whirled effortlessly around her body.

_I wish Toph would talk to me. _The waterbender brought her hands up gracefully, and the stream of water split into two ribbons, which spiraled down around her. _I wish she would yell at me! She could scream at me all she wanted, if only she would listen for a minute afterwards. _Katara leaned to her right, drawing her palms to the side, and pulled the two rippling bands of water back into one. _I'd let her do anything to me, if only she'd give me one more chance… _

The perfect ribbon of water suddenly veered off and collapsed onto the deck, splashing into a thousand rivulets on the steel. Katara sank to her knees, laying her hand down in one of the puddles, feeling the warmth of the sun-drenched steel through it. Her eyes closed, remembering Yue, the princess of the Northern Water Tribe who had become the moon spirit. _I think I'm desperate enough to ask._

_Spirits, please – Yue - let me have one more chance._


	15. Arrivals

Their arrival in the Fire Nation had been low-key at first, just another warship pulling up to the pier. Then an elite military escort had arrived to convey them from the dock to the palace. Toph, again in her full dress armor, walked with Captain Xiaoshen at the head of the procession; Katara was somewhere in the middle, holding Chanya by the hand. Ming had hold of the child's other hand, her amber eyes darting around, on the lookout for trouble. She was still a little pale and shaky, but she had insisted on protecting the young Avatar, and had finally been allowed to do so.

Katara had left Ty Lee still locked up in the brig, now under heavy Fire Nation guard. There had been a tearful goodbye between the prisoner and little Chanya. Katara had paused in the doorway, looking back at the miserable-looking acrobat. "I'll come back," she had said softly. "I promise." Ty Lee hadn't seemed much comforted.

The child's eyes were wide as they made their way up the street that led to the palace. Katara smiled a little, remembering the first time that she had seen a city. She, too, had grown up in a small village – smaller even than the Northern Water Tribe – and the sight of places like Ba Sing Se had been almost overwhelming. Katara felt the small hand trembling, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Chanya glanced up at her; Katara smiled.

They had gone through the gates of the palace, and were now being ushered up the main hall toward the throne room. Katara couldn't help but remember the last time she had been here, fighting for Ty Lee's life. _And then I still had Toph to go home to… _She sighed and shook her head, banishing the thought. Now was not the time.

As they reached the doors of the throne room, the military escort stopped. Toph, Katara, Ming, Xiaoshen and Chanya moved through the doors.

Chanya sucked in her breath sharply at the sight of the Fire Lord's throne, and of the sheet of flame that separated it from the room. Katara squeezed her hand again. "It's all right, Chanya," she murmured as they moved forward. "Just bow when we do, and remember what we talked about yesterday." The child nodded, although Katara saw her lips trembling.

Zuko was sitting on the throne, looking far larger than life behind the blazing curtain before him. Beside his throne was perched the straight, silent figure of Mai. Toph and Xiaoshen dropped to the floor and bowed; Katara followed suit, gently tugging on Chanya's arm so that she did the same. "General Bei Fong, Ambassador Katara – welcome back to the Fire Nation," the Fire Lord said warmly. "Captain Xiaoshen, thank you for your service to the crown. And," looking in the direction of the little girl, "Avatar Chanya. It is an honor to welcome you to the Fire Nation!"

The child was pale. "Thank you, sir," she almost whispered. Then, as Katara nudged her, "I mean, your majesty."

"You must be tired after your journey." Zuko gestured, and silent servants appeared from the shadows, bowing. "You will be shown to your rooms, where you can prepare for dinner. – Ambassador Katara, if you and Ming would remain, please? The Fire Lady wishes to speak with you."

Chanya looked uncertainly at Katara when one of the Fire Nation servants came to take her; the Water Tribe woman released her hand and smiled. "Go ahead, Chanya," she said quietly. "I'll come and see you when I'm done." Reassured, the little girl went with the servant.

Katara looked back up at the throne to see that Zuko had taken his leave. As if on cue, the tall form of Mai unfolded itself from beside the throne and made its way down the steps that led down from it. The Fire Lady stepped through the sheet of flame and paused, her amber eyes turning to Ming.

At once, the imperial guard knelt down and bowed from the waist. "I failed you, your highness," she said softly. "I –"

Mai held up a hand. "Quiet." Ming fell silent, but didn't raise her head. "Our intelligence reports indicate that Azula probably stowed away on your balloon, Ming. You are stripped of your status as an imperial guard until your loyalties have been proven." Katara bit her tongue to keep in a cry of outrage at this. The Fire Lady motioned, and two soldiers approached, laying their hands on Ming's shoulders. "Question her," she ordered briefly, and the young woman was taken away.

The Fire Lady looked at Katara. A faint smile crossed her lips at the waterbender's expression. "I have no real doubts about Ming's loyalty, Ambassador. This is probably only a formality. However, since we're dealing with Azula, we can't be too careful."

"Azula attacked her – injured her!" Katara protested.

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything," Mai said quietly. "Azula also took over Ba Sing Se in part by having herself taken prisoner by the Dai Li. She's cunning. You know that." She held up an imperious hand to stall Katara's further protests. "Ming will be treated fairly. It is none of your concern." The waterbender scowled, but shut her mouth. "That isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

Reluctantly, Katara let it go, and inclined her head. "What can I do for you, Fire Lady Mai?"

"One moment." The Fire Lady turned her head toward the back of the seemingly empty throne room. "Leave us!" From the shadows, two imperial guards appeared, and slipped from the room. Mai looked back at Katara. "I wanted to ask you how Ty Lee's doing."

Katara's eye twitched. _Oh, she's fine. Aside from the fact that I had an affair with her, and dumped her… _"She is as well as can be expected, your highness. She has the sensation back in her legs, and she's able to move her feet a bit now. There's still some pain sometimes, though."

"Ah." Mai nodded, her face expressionless. "You've set something up for her in Ba Sing Se, I hear."

"Yes. A…house." Katara shifted uneasily, wondering how permanent _that_ arrangement was going to be, now that she and Toph were at such odds.

"And you have had no difficulty in providing for her?" The Fire Lady raised a brow. "Do you need any help with that?"

"What -?" For some reason, it took Katara a moment or two to understand the question. "Oh! No, your highness, It's been fine," she assured her.

"You're sure?" Mai asked. Katara nodded. "All right, then. But if you find that she needs more than what you can give her, you have my permission to ask me for it. It's only right. _I_ gave you the charge, after all."

The waterbender inclined her head. "Thank you, your highness," she said.

"No – thank _you, _Ambassador." The emotionless mask slipped a little, and Mai flashed Katara a brief but genuine smile. Then it was gone, and she was once again the cool and self-possessed empress of the Fire Nation. "That's all I wanted to talk to you about. I'm sure you'd like some time to freshen up before dinner is served. You'll find a servant outside to take you to your rooms, Ambassador."

Katara bowed. "Thank you, Fire Lady Mai," she said quietly, and left the throne room.


	16. The Brig

Katara paused on the deck of the docked ship, her eyes moving out to the open sea. She could see the Gates of Sozin in the distance, the statues magnificent in the reddish evening light. She inhaled deeply. _Gods, I wish I could just stay out here! _She closed her eyes and steeled herself, oblivious to the curious gazes of the Fire Nation soldiers who guarded the place. _Come on, Katara. Quit dragging this out. You know very well that it has to be done! _Her blue eyes opened, and she strode purposefully down the steps.

The brig was definitely a prison again. The Fire Nation soldiers had allowed Ty Lee to keep her blanket, but everything else had been taken, including her wheelchair – Katara spotted it sitting in a corner outside the cell. Two soldiers guarded the prison, one on each side of the door. Looking through the bars, the waterbender saw Ty Lee sitting on the bed, her head resting against the wall, her hands resting quietly in her lap. Katara moved forward, looking at the guards. "I would have a moment alone with the prisoner," she said, hoping that her voice carried enough authority to sway them. The soldiers looked at her for a moment. Then, to her relief, they made their way up the steps with military briskness.

Ty Lee turned toward her. "Katara." She favored her with a sad smile. "How's the palace?"

"It's fine." Katara wished she dared to ask the soldiers to let her into the cell, but she thought that would be pushing her luck. She contented herself with leaning against the bars and smiling a little. "How are you doing, Ty?"

"Great. This place just turns my aura pink." Now _that_ had been a bit of sarcasm that would almost have been worthy of Mai! Katara looked at the Fire Nation girl with a touch of worry. Ty Lee just looked away. "Go ahead, Katara. Just say it. I've heard it before. You're sorry, it just won't work out, you love your earthbender, it was just a fling, we can still be friends…"

The waterbender rested her forehead against the bars as guilt tore at her. "I _am_ sorry, Ty Lee," she said softly.

The former acrobat shook her head with a bitter smile. "No. Don't be. The whole mess was my fault." She sighed. "Soon it won't matter anymore, anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" Katara asked sharply.

"Azula," Ty Lee said simply. "I'm a loose end in her life, and she doesn't ever leave loose ends. She couldn't kill me last time, but eventually she will." The acrobat rubbed her eyes tiredly. "If I could still use my legs, I'd escape and let the guards cut me down or something. Sitting here and waiting to be murdered just seems…boring." She laughed a little. "Agni! I sound more like Mai every day."

Katara frowned deeply. "Azula won't touch you," she said firmly. "She'll have to blast her way through me to get anywhere near you – and I intend to blast back!"

Ty Lee lifted her head to stare at her, incredulous. "Katara, why…why do you fight so hard for me?" she asked. "I don't understand."

The waterbender paused, wondering how to answer the question. _I made Mai a promise. I healed you and fought for you not to be executed. Even though you seduced me and I knew that you did, I still don't hate you. I don't give up on people, ever. _She rubbed her forehead. "I guess it's because we can still be friends," she said, and laughed a bit. Ty Lee looked perplexed, and Katara sighed. "You _are_ my friend, Ty. Why wouldn't I fight for you?"

"Because it doesn't make sense," Ty Lee insisted. "You're one of the most powerful waterbenders in the world! You have ties to the rulers of the Fire Nation. You could go anywhere and do whatever you wanted! Now, I used to be an elite warrior, but I'm not stupid enough to not know what I am now. Why would you keep tying yourself down with a worthless, crippled exile like me? Especially after what happened with General Bei Fong!"

Her words cut deep. Katara bit her lip and closed her eyes for a moment. "Ty Lee," she said softly, "what do you think I was fighting for, when I fought beside Aang?"

She looked at Katara strangely. "Um, I don't know. Freedom? To take down the Fire Nation? To protect your family? Stuff like that, I suppose?"

"Yes. All those things. But really, it was simpler than that." Katara felt her eyes misting. "I fought," she said softly, "so that a seven-year-old girl and a young woman devastated by the war could play together without worrying about being murdered." The acrobat's mouth opened, but no sound came out. "That's still what I fight for."

There was silence for a while. Finally, with a shuddering breath, Ty Lee lowered her head in acceptance. "Thank you." Still, Katara said nothing. The acrobat raised her enormous gray eyes again. "Katara," she whispered, "would you…I mean, I know it's probably not allowed, and all…would you tell Mai I miss her?"

Katara hesitated. As Ty Lee had said, she wasn't certain if this would be allowed. Would Mai even take kindly to the message? At length, she nodded. "All right, Ty. I'll see what I can do."

Footsteps on the stairs behind her heralded the return of the guards. The waterbender quietly said her goodbyes, and headed back up onto the deck of the ship.


	17. Garden Musings

Katara sat on the edge of the fountain, smiling as the sound of childish laughter filled the air.

The little girls who were chasing each other and giggling were about as different as two people could be. One was long and lean for her age, her skin as white as milk, with black hair and golden eyes. The other was short and petite, with caramel skin and hair the color of chocolate.

"I used to play here." The waterbender turned her head to regard the woman sitting beside her. Fire Lady Mai looked a little less rigid than usual. Her narrow amber eyes were soft, and her lips were curved into a small smile. "When I was little, Ty Lee and Azula and I used to play in this garden," she said.

The Water Tribe woman raised her brows. "Well, I can see Ty Lee playing, and maybe you, your highness. I can't really imagine Azula doing it, though."

"She did." Mai watched as her daughter ran by, squealing with laughter, pursued by Chanya. "She got more and more…twisted…as she got older, of course. But she was once just a little girl."

Hesitating, Katara glanced at the imperial guards. They were over by the gate that led from the palace into the enclosed garden, and were out of earshot. She looked back at the black-haired woman. "Fire Lady Mai," she said, her voice low, "I…was talking to Ty Lee yesterday. She asked me to tell you that she misses you."

The softness left Mai's face. She gave Katara a sidelong glance. "And why are you telling me this, Ambassador?"

"Because she asked me to, your highness." The waterbender looked away, feeling her cheeks flushing. "That's all."

"She is _banished._" Mai's voice was cold. "That is not about to change!"

"No. Of course not, your majesty. I wasn't trying to suggest –"

"I hope not." The Fire Lady's eyes flashed a little.

_Well, that sure went smoothly. _Katara looked up at her through her lashes, trying to gauge the woman's mood. As always, it was nearly impossible. "I apologize, Fire Lady Mai," she said tentatively. "I really didn't mean any offense…"

"It's all right." Mai waved her hand, dismissing the subject. "Just let it go." Her narrow eyes went back to where the children were. Chanya and Zulie had given up on running, and were now making daisy chains. The hardness in the lines of her mouth relaxed. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"

This unwonted sentiment made Katara's eyed widen a bit. She knew what those kinds of admissions cost Mai! Her eyes moved to the young princess, who was hunting around for more flowers to extend her chain. Zulie looked very much like Azula. She had the same almond eyes, heart-shaped face and straight, black hair. There was something of Mai in her long body, but even her hands were like Azula's, with slender fingers. Fortunately, the child had never shown any signs of sharing her aunt's psychosis. "Yes," Katara said honestly. "She really is."

She paused. After the awkwardness of their former conversation, she wasn't sure she still wanted to ask this, but she braced herself and pushed forward. "Fire Lady Mai, I wonder if you would allow me to sleep on the ship where Ty Lee is being held?" The former assassin looked at her; the expression on her face was carefully neutral. "I'm just concerned," Katara admitted. "Azula is dangerous. I'm sure your soldiers are excellent fighters, but I doubt any of them have ever faced anything like her! I know that Chanya is fairly safe here in the palace. But I can't help feeling like Ty Lee is a bit…exposed."

Mai nodded thoughtfully. She went back to watching the children. "You have my permission," she said quietly.

"Thank you, your highness." Katara couldn't keep the relief out of her voice. She thought she saw the woman's mouth twitch a little in amusement, but she couldn't be sure.

There was silence. The waterbender leaned back, enjoying the sunshine and the light breeze that wafted through the garden. "I miss her, too." Katara turned her head, her blue eyes widening in surprise. Mai was gazing down at the water beneath then, trailing her long fingers in it absently. "This isn't easy for me, Katara," she said, her voice very low. "I hope you don't think it is!"

The waterbender's eyes softened. "No, your highness," she murmured. "I don't think I've ever thought that."

"You aren't to tell her." The Fire Lady's brows lowered a fraction.

_No. Of course not. That would just make everything that much harder, for both of them. _Katara shook her head. "You can trust me, your highness."

Mai sighed. Her face looked haggard. "I hope so, Katara."


	18. A Midnight Visitor

It had been five days since they had arrived in the Fire Nation. Katara was again on the deck of the ship; she was sitting cross-legged, contemplating the sunset, and trying to decide what she was going to do.

When she had first left for the North Pole, Katara had assumed that she would go back to Ba Sing Se. Now, however, things were different. Toph still hadn't spoken to her. Katara had made a halfhearted attempt at conversation the day before, but those cloudy green eyes had frozen her in her tracks; without a word, the general had whirled on her heel and stalked off. The waterbender had not tried again.

She sighed through her nose. _Ba Sing Se won't be the same without her. I…I don't want to go back if I can't be with Toph. _She bit her lips. Zuko had hinted subtly that little Chanya would need a waterbending master to teach her. Katara knew that she was one of the best in the world, and a natural choice to stay in the Fire Nation and train the child. _But what about Ty Lee? I can't just send her back to the Earth Kingdom by herself – not with Azula after her. It would be like signing her death warrant! And she can't stay here. _The Water Tribe woman sighed again, resting her head in her hands. _I just wish that Toph would listen._

Maybe she hadn't used the right words? The waterbender went over them in her mind. _"Toph, I know you're angry. I hurt you, and I'm sorry! But please, Toph, talk to me…"_ Nothing.

This wasn't getting her anywhere. Katara shook herself impatiently, glancing at the horizon; the sun was all but gone. Only the faintest glow of orange showed where it had vanished over the city. _I'd better go down and get some sleep. I'll figure something out tomorrow._

Down in the brig, Ty Lee was already asleep, her head resting on her arm. Katara glanced at the guards as she rolled out her bedroll in front of the door of the cell. She had taken to sleeping there, reasoning that any would-be assassin would have to step over her to get to Ty Lee. (Assuming that the assassin didn't just hit the whole place with a fireball, or something.) Sighing, she lay down on her side, placing her water skin by her head. Her eyes closed, and she drifted off to sleep.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Katara's eyes flew open.

It was dark – almost pitch black. Instantly, all of her senses were on the alert. _Why is it so dark? There's supposed to be lamps lit! _Instinctively, she pulled the cork from her water skin, moving only the fingers of the hand that lay upon it. Her eyes flicked around, and she strained her ears to hear. _Where are the guards?_

There was a creak on the stairs! Her eyes instantly flew forward as her heart hammered in her ears. Even in the near-total darkness, she could sense movement. Katara lost no time. Flinging out one arm, she sent a wave of water flying up the steps, freezing it! A cry of surprise and shock broke the silence.

"Katara! What's going on?" Ty Lee's panicked voice came from behind her.

"Relax, Ty. I'm on it." Katara sprang to her feet and made her way over to where she knew a lantern was. It took her a couple of tries to light the wick with the flint and steel, but she finally managed it. The flickering light revealed the stairs.

A figure dressed in black was struggling in the ice that enveloped it to the waist. Katara's eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of a white face with dark lips. "_June?"_

With a sigh, the intruder stopped struggling and turned to face her. She was a tall woman with shoulder-length hair the color of ebony. Her black shirt was sleeveless, baring white, tattooed shoulders; her lower arms were encased in fingerless gloves. One hand held fast to a whip, the lash of which was trapped in the ice that Katara had trapped her in. "Okay, I give up. You've got me."

"What the _hell_ are you doing here? Did you run out of bounties to collect in the Earth Kingdom?" The waterbender moved back to the door of the cell. Now that some of the fear was subsiding, she could feel herself getting angry. "What did you do with the guards?"

"Oh, _them? _They're just fine, darling. They're up on deck, sleeping off a little shirshu poison." June smiled faintly.

Ty Lee was sitting up in her bed, her eyes wide. "Who…who is this, Katara? You know her?"

The Water Tribe woman curled her lip. "Of course, how rude of me. Ty Lee, this is June, a bounty hunter from the Earth Kingdom. June, this is Ty Lee. Although I bet that June already knew that. Didn't you?" Katara's blue eyes flashed.

"Like I said, you got me." The bounty hunter raised her hands over her head with a wry smile. "You got lucky. If you'd waited about two more seconds, I'd have had you both."

"Don't flatter yourself." Katara glanced around. Her eyes rested on a cistern of water in one corner of the room. She jerked her hands toward herself, calling to her element, and the liquid burst from its confines. With a wave of her arm, she sent it flying at the bounty hunter! June just had time to yelp before she was engulfed in a second wave of ice that encased her completely, leaving only her head free. "Now," she said coolly, "I'm going to go get someone to take you in for questioning."

Even trapped to her neck in ice, June was calm. She smiled a bit. "Oh, sure, you can do that. Wouldn't you prefer to help that little Water Tribe girl first, though?"

_Chanya. _Katara's eyes widened. "What have you done with Chanya?" she snarled. "Tell me, or I swear, I'll –"

"Okay, okay. Take it easy. Jeez." The bounty hunter rolled her dark eyes. "The runt isn't hurt. I left her tied up not too far from here."

"Then you're going to take me there." Katara looked around, found a pair of shackles, and marched up the steps to her prisoner. She unfroze the woman's arms long enough to chain them behind her back. Then, stepping back, she considered the situation. _June is a lot stronger than I am. I'd better keep her at a distance; then I'll still have the advantage. _She moved to the foot of the stairs and pulled some of the ice from around the bounty hunter's body, bending it back to its liquid form. "I'm going to release your legs," she said coldly. "When I do, you'll take me to wherever you left Chanya. Got it?"

"Sure, sure. I know the drill." June sighed. Katara released the woman's feet. With a half-amused, half-annoyed look, the bounty hunter turned and headed back up the stairs. Katara followed, her water-whip at readiness.

June didn't even try to get away. She walked calmly across the deck of the ship and down the gangplank. "The kid's over this way," she said, jerking her head toward an alleyway. "She's not hurt."

"She'd better not be!" the waterbender snarled. Then, as June started to enter the alley, "Stop!" The bounty hunter looked back at her with a bland and mildly inquiring expression. "You stay here. I'll go in and get her." Katara sent the water whipping toward June's legs again, trapping her in ice to the knees. With her prisoner reasonably secured, the waterbender stepped into the alley.

There was a small form there, next to a dumpster; Katara could make out the fine features and dark hair of the little Avatar. "Chanya!" The Water Tribe woman moved forward, reaching out anxiously.

_Smack! _Something slimy struck against the side of Katara's neck! She uttered a faint gasp as a tingling sensation shot through her body. The next instant, she felt all the strength leave her muscles, and she dropped like a rag doll to the ground. Her eyes closed. _No! Gods, what… _Then she remembered. _Oh, damn it! I forgot about her shirshu – that huge animal of hers with the paralyzing tongue! _

Katara heard the sound of ice cracking, and then approaching footsteps. "Good boy, Nyla. Good boy!" That was June's voice, probably crooning to that beast of hers. "Who's a good shirshu? Who's a good boy? – Here, hold still and let me get that lockpick of mine. There we go." The waterbender heard the sound of chains rattling, and then felt the cold cuffs fastening around her own wrists. "Well, you didn't do _too _badly, waterbender," June remarked. "You kept me from getting bounty number three, anyway, and you cost me my whip. You couldn't save the kid, though!" Rope lashed around her legs. "I bet you're pretty mad at me right about now, aren't you? Heh. Well, you'll have to save the lecture until you can move again. Nyla hit you pretty good. Looks like you won't be twitching for at least an hour."

Fruitless rage flowed through Katara's veins like fire. She tried desperately to struggle as she was lifted into June's strong arms, but she couldn't so much as open her eyes. Her body was wrapped up in something like a net. Then she was fastened onto the back of the shirshu. She heard Chanya's soft whimpering, and then felt the child's form against hers. "Hush now, kid. I'm not going to hurt you." June's voice was quiet. "You just be a good girl and stay quiet. Understand? You won't fall, see? I'm tying the net good and tight." Chanya was silent; Katara felt the little girl's head burrowing against her back. Her heart ached. "All right. Now to go get your crippled friend. - Stay, Nyla!" Footsteps retreated.

The waterbender tried again to struggle. She could feel sweat beading on her forehead with the effort, but she still couldn't even twitch her fingers. Chanya's small body was trembling; Katara wished she could at least comfort the child! Then she heard the footfalls of the county hunter again.

"Huh. Well, seems I'll have to leave with only the two of you. There's soldiers swarming like ants all over that ship." A measure of relief warmed the prisoner's heart. A hand patted Katara's shoulder. "Ready to head out, waterbender?" June chuckled a little. "The woman who hired me claims to be an old friend of yours. She's a crazy firebender. Know any of those?" June laughed again; Katara felt her swing up into the shirshu's saddle, and heard her whistle through her teeth. The beast began to run.


	19. En Route

It didn't take long for the shirshu to leave the confines of the Fire Nation capital. By the time Katara could finally open her eyes again, they were well away from civilization, and heading eastward at a good clip. June turned in her saddle and looked down at her. "Do your arms and legs tingle, yet?" Katara's mouth still wouldn't quite obey her – she managed to jerk her head a little. "Heh. Guess not." June smirked and turned back, whistling. The shirshu's pace picked up.

The tingling came a few minutes later; Katara winced as it grew more intense. She soon found that she could wriggle her fingers. Her bonds prevented her from doing much more than that, however. She moved her mouth. "June!"

Dark eyes looked down at her in amusement. "Wearing off, is it, waterbender?" she said. "Whatever happened to your grumpy boyfriend?"

"Zuko was never my boyfriend," Katara snapped. Then, shaking herself, "June, please, don't do this!"

The bounty hunter rolled her eyes, turning away again. "Oh, please," she groaned. "Listen, girl, I've heard them all before. You're not going to be able to appeal to my better instincts, all right? I simply don't have any."

"I don't believe that!" the Water Tribe woman said. "I don't believe for a minute that you're on Azula's side!"

"I'm never on anyone's _side." _June shrugged. "I'm a bounty hunter, waterbender. You give me a mark, I bring them back, and you give me money, the end. It's nothing personal, honey."

"But don't you know who Azula _is?" _Katara protested. "She's an enemy of the state! She's completely insane! Azula's probably the most dangerous woman on the face of the planet right now!"

June shrugged again. "Her money's just as good as anyone else's." She patted Katara's arm condescendingly. "Look, you're just upset that you happen to be on the losing end of this business deal. I can understand that, it's perfectly human! Again, it's nothing personal. It's just the way things go."

"There's more to it than that. Chanya's the Avatar!"

At this, the bounty hunter turned in her saddle and looked down at her again. "Oh, really? I thought the Avatar was that bald kid with the blue stripes."

"Aang died defeating Ozai eight years ago," Katara said impatiently. "Everyone knows that!"

"I didn't. Guess I don't keep up with the news. Sorry, honey. I've been far too busy hunting to bother with kingdom politics." June pulled on the reins, and the shirshu cut to the right, heading down a hillside. "So you and the grumpy prince never hooked up, huh? Too bad. Who'd he wind up with?"

"What difference does that make?" the waterbender snarled. "June, _please…"_

"Listen, sweetie, I already told you I'm not changing my mind. So either be quiet, or I'll give you another dose of shirshu poison to shut you up." The bounty hunter's voice held no pity.

"Do what you have to." Katara was desperate. "Look, I don't care if you turn me over to Azula. I'll go quietly. Just let Chanya go!"

"How noble of you." June sat back in her saddle with an exaggerated yawn. "Unless you've got a thousand gold pieces on you to make up her price to me, it's not going to happen, waterbender." They were traveling through trees now, entering one of the Fire Nation's dense forests. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't think she wants to kill the kid. She said she didn't."

"Azula's never told the truth in her life." Katara's voice was bitter.

"You're done talking." June took something from her belt and reached back. Katara felt a sharp pain in her arm; her body went limp, and her eyes closed before she could protest. She heard the bounty hunter chuckle. "I did warn you, waterbender," she said. "You've got no one to blame but yourself!" Katara seethed helplessly.

By the time the waterbender was able to move again, the sun had reached its peak in the sky. June stopped soon afterward to let her shirshu drink at the bank of a river. She produced some bread from one of her saddlebags and let her prisoners eat a few bites. Then she gave them each a mouthful of water. Katara wished her hands were free so she could give the bounty hunter the beatdown she deserved!

As June packed the remaining rations into a saddlebag, Katara craned her neck to look at Chanya. She couldn't see much, since the child rested behind her, but she could make out the little bound wrists. "Are you all right, Chanya?" she whispered. "Did she hurt you?"

"No. I'm not hurt." The child shivered and cuddled into her back. "I'm scared, 'Tara!"

"Don't be. It'll be okay." Katara wished she could think of something more helpful to say! "We'll find a way out of this, all right?"

June swung into the saddle. "It won't be long now," she said cheerfully. "We should reach my client by nightfall. – You comfy back there, kid?"

"No." Chanya's voice was almost petulant. "The ropes hurt!"

"Oh, yeah?" The bounty hunter actually dismounted, and Katara heard her fumbling with the bonds that held the child. "Here, I'll loosen them a bit. But don't you try anything, you hear me?"

"Yes'm." Chanya sounded meek. June climbed back up into the saddle. Thrusting out her jaw, she whistled through her teeth, and the shirshu started forward again.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Katara heard voices. She raised her head, wincing at the stiffness of her neck, and opened her eyes.

She was still on the back of the shirshu. It was dark; a canopy of tree branches blocked out most of the night sky. She could see the flickering glow of a campfire somewhere behind her. Blinking, she focused her mind on the voices.

"…Thought I was pretty clear about that, bounty hunter. _Three _targets!" The words were angry.

"Hey, don't blame me. I brought you two of them – the most important ones, from what you said, firebender. There were too many soldiers for me to get the third." That was June.

"Excuses!" hissed the first voice. "But fine. Take your pay and go." There was a clink of coin exchanging hands.

A minute later, Katara felt herself being lifted from the back of the shirshu. She squirmed, more out of form than out of any actual hope of escaping. June made no comment, merely turning back to the beast and lifting down little Chanya. "They're all yours, firebender," she said calmly. "You want me again, you know where to find me."

"Be gone!" A pair of boots stepped in front of Katara as the shirshu vanished into the forest. The waterbender slowly looked up to find Azula leering down at her.


	20. Blood and Tears

Without a word, the firebender leaned down, grabbed a handful of Katara's tunic, and dragged her to her feet. "Hello, peasant," Azula said through her teeth. "I haven't seen you in a while." Katara jerked her arms in their bonds. When they failed to come loose, she spat in Azula's face! The back of the firebender's hand connected with her face, snapping her head to one side. "We've got things to discuss."

"I've got nothing to say to you," Katara said coldly.

"That's all right." The firebender grinned nastily. "I intend to do most of the talking, anyway." She slammed her prisoner back against a tree! Katara grunted in pain as a knot dug into her spine. Azula reached back with her free hand; a plume of blue flame erupted from her palm. "Now," she said coolly, "let's talk. I owe you for a few different _incidents,_ waterbender! First, I owe you for the chains you put on my wrists after the Agni Kai with my brother – the Agni Kai that I _won!"_ The hand bearing the fire jabbed forward; the blue flame burned inches from Katara's face.

The waterbender flinched a little, but forced herself to breathe deeply. "You didn't win," she said coldly. "You cheated."

"He went down! By the rules of Agni Kai, he lost." Azula's golden eyes had a feral gleam. She shoved her blazing hand down; Katara felt the chain that held her wrists jerk. An instant later, the cuffs around her arms began to burn her! She squirmed, then cried out in pain.

Laughing, Azula released the chain, and grinned at the tears that trickled unbidden down her prisoner's face. Katara tried to kick her! Azula twisted aside, and slammed her hard against the tree again; her head struck against it with a sharp crack. Pain and nausea shot through her, and she felt her knees buckle.

"Oh, no, you don't!" A sharp slap fell across Katara's face. "You stay awake, peasant! I'm not done with you!" The master waterbender forced her eyes back open, gasping faintly. She could hear Chanya whimpering in the background, but had no time to reassure her; another slap fell. "Stand up!" Katara forced her legs to bear her up. Azula's sneering face swam back into focus. "That's better."

"Go to hell," the waterbender muttered.

"Going to hell comes later. Right now, we've still got scores to settle." The former princess smirked. "Second, I owe you and your earthbender for that little incident out at sea. You kept me from putting Ty Lee out of her misery! I don't appreciate peasants who insist on getting in my way." A fist plowed into Katara's belly! She doubled over with a grunt. A few more blows fell about her ribs and abdomen as she squirmed. The hand tangled in the front of her gown released, and she dropped to her knees; something smashed her in the jaw! Blackness swallowed her for a minute or two.

Katara came to herself with her face in the dirt. Her mind was foggy; she squinted, trying to clear the cobwebs from her head. There was blood in her mouth. From somewhere above her, she could hear Azula's voice. Then she heard Chanya cry out! She tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness dashed her down. Gasping, she lay still and listened, struggling to control her spinning world.

There was Azula's cold voice again. "…A waterbender, are you?"

"Yes'm." That was the child, her voice quavering.

"Then this might prove difficult for you. But you'll still learn! I am the greatest firebending prodigy in all of the Fire Nation – you should consider yourself very lucky, Avatar."

The waterbender heard Chanya sniffle. "What are you going to do to 'Tara?"

Azula laughed a little. She was using her sweetest voice, which was somehow a thousand times more chilling than her usual tone. "Oh, don't you worry about her, Avatar! You needn't concern yourself with peasants any longer."

_What's she going to do to Chanya?_ Katara opened her eyes a mere slit. Azula was sitting by the fire with the child. All of her attention was focused on Chanya; the waterbender thought furiously. _There's no water near here. If my hands weren't bound, I could pull some from the trees…_ She considered her bonds for a moment. The shackles had a fairly long chain – her wrists were held about eight inches apart. _If my hands were in front of me instead of behind, I think I could bend a little._ Keeping her eyes on the former princess, Katara slowly began to pull her knees up to her chest.

"You know they only wanted you because you're the Avatar, right?" Azula's voice dripped with sweetness. She laid her white hand against Chanya's damp cheek. "They wanted to use you, control you. It was all about _politics."_

"B-but…but they said it was to protect me," the little girl whispered. Katara could see that her eyes were brimming with tears. "They said you would hurt me…"

"And have I hurt you?" The firebender smiled. "No. You see, they were wrong about me. No – I just wanted to make sure that you were free to make your own choices, Avatar. Why should you be manipulated by anyone?" Katara ground her teeth, slowly beginning to pull her bound arms down and under her feet. "Besides, you –" Abruptly, Azula's head turned! Her golden eyes found Katara's as the waterbender brought her hands up. "You!" With a snarl, the firebender sprang to her feet and darted at her!

There was no time to pull water from anywhere. All Katara could see was the blue flames forming in the palms of her assailant. In desperation, she threw up her hands, her eyes squeezing shut!

Silence.

Katara lay gasping, faint sobs shaking her body. She knew what she would see when she opened her eyes, but she didn't want look. _Oh, gods…oh, gods, I swore I would never do this again, I swore it! Not even against Azula…_ She gritted her teeth, struggling to pull herself together. _Come on, Katara. Do this for Chanya! Do it for her._ Slowly, she opened her eyes again.

Azula stood about two yards from her, frozen in mid-step, her eyes wild with panic and furious anger. She couldn't move; Katara's control over her body made sure of that. _Blood bending._ Katara shuddered, remembering the words of Hama as they had led her off to prison. _"You are a blood bender…"_ Slowly, never wavering in her control, the waterbender turned her eyes to Chanya.

The child was watching in open-mouthed shock. Her wide blue eyes turned on Katara. With a deep breath, the waterbender spoke. "Chanya," she said, keeping her voice soft and steady, "I want you to untie yourself. Are your feet free?"

"Y-yes," Chanya whispered.

"Good. Azula has a knife in her belt. Come take it and free your hands." Slowly, as if in a dream, the child did as she was told. The ropes on her wrists soon came loose under the blade of the knife. "Good girl." Katara forced her breathing to remain deep and steady. "Now, you're going to have to tie Azula up so she can't hurt us. You can use those ropes. Tie her hands first."

Twisting her hands, Katara brought Azula to her knees and forced her arms behind her back. The firebender gave a cry of outrage through her clenched teeth! Little Chanya's eyes were full of fear. Katara's heart ached for her. "It's all right, Chanya," she said softly. "I know this is scary. You're doing great." The child wrapped the cords around Azula's wrists and pulled the knots tight. Katara didn't know how long that would hold the firebender, but it was a start.

_Now what do we do with her?_ The waterbender's eyes narrowed. _We can't take her with us - she's just too dangerous. We'd better just make sure she can't follow us for a while._

Carefully, Katara drew Azula back to her feet and made her walk to a nearby tree. The firebender's movements were jerky, like a marionette's. Katara forced the image from her mind as she pushed the firebender down with her back to the tree trunk. "Now, take the ropes from my legs and tie her to the tree, Chanya," she said, her voice still as calm as she could make it. The child had tears trickling down her face, but she did as she was told. "Good girl! You're doing great. Now come over here. I'm going to let her go soon, so you need to be away from her." Slowly, the little girl obeyed.

_All right. So far, so good._ Katara rose to her feet, maintaining her control over the grimacing Azula, and moved to where the firebender sat. _First things first – I better check these knots._ Taking a deep breath, she released Azula, then bent down to tighten the rope that held her to the tree.

"You…you…" Azula's voice was very weak, but still full of fury. "You waterbending bitch! What did you do to me?!"

"Watch your mouth, Azula," Katara said coldly, jerking the knots tighter. "There's a kid here, you know." She reached in between the tree and the prisoner's body, and checked the cords around Azula's wrists. They were actually well-tied – she let them be. _I'd better bind her legs, too. I've seen her firebend with her feet before._ There was no more rope. After a moment's thought, Katara tore a wide strip from the hem of her own gown, then used it to bind the woman's ankles.

Azula was sneering. "If you think this will stop me, peasant, you're wrong," she snarled. "Zuko's going down! He won't even see the blow coming. None of you will!" And she laughed as Katara frowned. "There's already an assassin in the palace," she said, her voice falling into a mocking sing-song. "And you'll never find out who it is!"

"Shut up!" Katara jerked the bonds around Azula's ankles tight. Her heart was pounding. _Zuko's in trouble! We have to get back to the palace and warn him!_ Her body still trembling, she got up and turned to Chanya.

The child was huddled by a tree. Her eyes were wide. Although she wasn't crying anymore, it was obvious that she was still terrified. "Chanya," Katara said softly, and the child flinched. _She's afraid of me._ The waterbender swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. "Chanya," she said again, "we have to go. We have to get back to the palace."

"B-but it's dark out!" the child whimpered.

"It'll be all right." Katara moved slowly forward, then stooped down and lifted the little girl into her arms. Chanya's body was rigid for a moment or two; then she leaned into the waterbender, her small arms wrapping around Katara's neck. "Come on, Chanya," Katara said softly, heading back the way they had come. "Let's go home."


	21. Homeward

It was difficult to navigate through the thick woods, even with the moon being so close to full. Katara held Chanya close, stepping over roots and stones, heading roughly westward. _Once we're out in the open, _she thought, _it'll be easier to tell which way we should go. _

They went on in silence for nearly an hour. Finally, Chanya's hand closed on a handful of Katara's collar, and her head tucked itself into the crook of Katara's neck. "What did you do to her, 'Tara?" she whispered.

The Water Tribe woman winced. Her pace didn't falter; she thought for a moment, before finally deciding to simply tell the child the truth. "I'm a master waterbender," she explained gently. "Some master waterbenders can take control of the water in peoples' bodies. It's called bloodbending. I…well, I bloodbended her. I controlled the water in her body to stop her from hurting us."

Chanya was silent for a while, her little fingers playing absently with Katara's collar. "I didn't like it," she said. Her voice was small. "It was scary."

"I know. I'm sorry I had to do it in front of you." The waterbender bit her lips. "It's not something I like doing, Chanya. I only did it to protect you."

The child nodded. "I know," she whispered. There was a pause. "Did…did you hurt her?"

This gave Katara pause. She had only experience someone else bloodbending her once, when Hama – the old witch who had taught her the technique – had taken her down with it. It had hurt, but only when her limbs had been forced to twist into unnatural positions. "I don't think so, dear. I just made her hold still for a while."

Silence fell again. Katara was beginning to tire; Azula's beating had taken a lot out of her, and Chanya's weight was slowing her down. She didn't want to stop. _After all, how long will those ropes hold Azula? She's probably tracking us by now… _She set her teeth and soldiered on.

Then the silence was broken! Katara stopped short, listening intently. She could hear voices and the snapping of underbrush from somewhere ahead of them! Her heart in her throat, she quickly ducked to one side and hid herself in the brush, tucking Chanya down beneath her. "Shh!" she whispered to the child. The little girl nodded fearfully, clinging to Katara with both arms.

The voices grew closer. The waterbender huddled down, peering through the leaves as torchlight flickered nearby. "They came this way," a girl's voice said. "You see how the branches are broken? – And here's a shirshu track!"

"Yeah, great. Can't we move any faster?" That was a woman's voice – and a familiar one! Katara's heart almost stopped. An instant later, they came into view. There were about ten of them, most of them riding mongoose lizards. Two of them were on foot: a Fire Nation man, who seemed to be doing the tracking, and a dark-haired woman in Earth Kingdom armor. _Toph!_

Katara rose to her feet. At the same moment, Toph froze in her tracks, her head swiveling in the direction of the waterbenders. "Katara?"

"I'm here!" The Water Tribe woman couldn't quite keep the relief out of her voice. "We're both here. We're all right."

The earthbender remained where she was, seemingly frozen in place. Katara wondered what she was thinking. After a moment, she recovered herself. "So where's June? – And Azula?" she asked.

"Back…there." Katara looked vaguely in the direction they had come from. "I left Azula tied to a tree. June…I don't know where she is, she left a while ago. She's still on her shirshu…" She felt Chanya's small hand in hers. Slowly, she stepped from the bushes. Her body felt suddenly very weak.

Toph gestured to the men with her. "Find Azula!" she ordered. "Bring her back in chains. Be careful! She's slippery, and a powerful firebender." She pointed at two of the mounted soldiers. "You and you, go on foot. We'll need your mounts." They quickly dismounted, and the soldiers went off as they were told.

There was a bit of an awkward pause. Then Toph moved forward. "Here. Give me your arms," she said shortly. Katara obeyed, and the earthbender snapped the chains from her wrists. Katara bit back a cry – some of her skin had burned to the cuffs when Azula had heated them, and tore away with the shackles. "How badly are you hurt?" Toph asked, her voice quiet. Katara couldn't read much into her tone.

"It's okay," the waterbender said quietly. "She beat me up a bit, but I'm fine. Nothing I can't heal myself of." She paused. "Toph, there's an assassin in the palace somewhere. Azula told me. Zuko's the target!"

"Great. Nothing but blue skies today." Toph turned away. "Well then, mount up, both of you. Let's get you back to safety, and warn his royal grouchiness." She was still aloof.

Katara took the quiet Chanya over to the waiting mongoose-lizard, then paused, looking at the waiting earthbender. She couldn't just ignore the fact that Toph had come, presumably to rescue her if she had needed rescuing. What could she say? "Thank you, Toph," she said softly. The general turned her head slightly toward her, her blind eyes unreadable. After a pause, she jerked her shaggy head in response.

_Guess I'll have to be satisfied with that. _Katara sighed a little, then boosted Chanya up into the saddle and swung up behind her, wrapping her arm snugly around the child's middle. The little girl leaned back against her, murmuring sleepily. Toph rode eastward, and Katara spurred her mount to follow.

She thought that Chanya had fallen asleep. In fact, Katara was just beginning to have trouble keeping her own eyes open when a small voice roused her. "'Tara?"

"What is it, love?" the Water Tribe woman murmured. "I thought you were asleep!"

"Not tired." The child promptly contradicted herself with a huge yawn. "'Tara, how come you and Toph are mad at each other?"

This gave Katara paused. By unspoken agreement, she, Toph and Ty Lee had kept all discussions of their relational problems away from Chanya. _This is an almost-eight-year-old child. How much can I tell her? _"Well," she said slowly, "I'm not angry at her. I did something very mean to Toph, and she's still mad about it."

"Did you do it on purpose?" Chanya peered up at her with sleepy, innocent eyes.

Katara's lips tightened for a moment. "Yes," she admitted. "I…guess I did do it on purpose, Chanya."

"How come?" the child wanted to know.

The waterbender sighed. _I wish I knew, Chanya. _"I was just stupid," she said. "I thought I could do it and not get caught, but I got caught anyway." She brushed her fingers through Chanya's hair. "That's why it's always good to tell the truth."

The child yawned again, turning her body so that she rested against Katara, her head pillowed in the crook of the woman's arm. "Maybe if you said you were sorry, she'd stop being angry," she murmured, closing her eyes.

Katara smiled sadly. "Maybe," she agreed softly.

By the time they reached the palace, the sun was well up in the sky. Katara relayed her warning about what Azula had said, and – being too exhausted to do it herself – was treated by a healer. Finally, she was escorted to her quarters. Weary beyond words, the waterbender shed her clothes and crawled between the sheets. In a very few moments, she had drifted off into blessed oblivion.


	22. By the Sword

The atmosphere in the throne room was grim.

Zuko sat in his throne, his head resting on his hand. Mai sat beside him, on her cushion at the foot of the throne; she held his other hand between hers, stroking it gently. Iroh, Sokka, Suki, Katara and Toph made up the rest of the motley gathering. They were sitting in a rough semicircle on the steps that led up to the throne.

Sokka scowled. "I bet Azula doesn't even _have_ an assassin," he grumbled. "I bet she just told you that to get under your skin, Katara!"

"Could be," the waterbender sighed. "But I don't think so. I think she was telling the truth."

"I'd've had the real truth out of her, if we'd gotten our hands on her!" Toph growled, her brows lowering. "Couldn't you have tied her up better?"

"No. As a matter of fact, I couldn't," Katara snapped. "I had exactly two pieces of rope, and had to improvise a third. What did you expect me to do?"

"Oh, I don't know. Kill her, maybe? You had her in your power, didn't you? You could have snapped her neck and saved us all some trouble!"

"Is that so?" The waterbender's face flushed with anger. "Then why didn't _you_ kill her when _you _had the chance? I seem to remember that you had her in _your_ power on the Day of Black Sun. And she couldn't even firebend then! Not to mention when we had her in Ba Sing Se!"

"Guys, just take it easy. Enough sniping!" Suki held up her hands as Toph opened her mouth to retort. "Taking shots at each other isn't going to help us figure this out, all right? Everyone just relax." The earthbender fell silent, scowling. Katara looked away.

"I don't know what else to do," Zuko fretted. "We've gone through every single imperial guard's background, and found nothing. We've even checked out every servant that works in the palace! Nothing." He growled through his teeth, tangling his hand in his hair in frustration. "Why is it always like this? She ruins everything!"

Iroh leaned forward. "It is true that Azula may have an assassin planted here, Zuko, but remember that her sanity has suffered. Whatever plans she has laid may not be up to her usual standards of…logic."

"I should have killed her when I had the chance." The Fire Lord sighed; his fists clenched. Silently, his wife spread his fingers out again and resumed her caressing of the back of his hand. "So what should we do? Just forget about trying to find out who the assassin is, and just double up my bodyguards?"

"It would be wise to increase your security," Iroh said gravely. "It would also be wise to double the guards around your lovely wife and your child, Zuko." At the mention of Zulie, Mai's head moved up; her golden eyes widened perceptibly.

Suki frowned and drew herself up. "May I offer you my sword, Fire Lord Zuko? I know you already have a lot of protection, but I would be happy to help defend you and your family."

The Fire Lord raised his head and smiled a bit. "Thank you, Suki," he said quietly. "I'd be honored." Mai also favored the Kyoshi warrior with a small smile and a regal nod of her black head. "I guess…maybe that is all we can do, for now. Watch, and –" Zuko stopped suddenly, raising his head. "What's that?"

There was some kind of a commotion just outside the throne room. A moment later, the door flew open, and two soldiers entered, dragging a prisoner between them. "My lord!" one of them cried. "Good news, my lord!" And they threw their captive down.

Katara stared in shock. She heard the gasps of her companions as the prisoner struggled up to her knees and looked up at the throne with a cool smirk. "_Azula!" _she whispered.

It could be no one else. Azula was kneeling on the floor, her hands in shackles, her expression calm. She gave no reaction as one of the soldiers spurned her with his boot. "She gave herself up, my lord," he said. "She walked right up to the palace gates and got down on her knees and surrendered!"

Azula smirked. "I'd heard you were looking for me, brother dear," she said sweetly.

The Fire Lord snarled. "Azula!" He stopped, searching for words. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"Surrendering," she replied, her eyes wide and innocent. "Aren't you happy, Zuzu? I'm saving you the trouble of tracking me down and taking me prisoner and dragging me all the way back here. You should be thanking me." She held up her chained wrists and smiled. "See? All tied up and helpless. Just think of how much safer you all are!"

It took an effort, but Zuko finally seemed to recover himself. He drew himself up, his brows lowering in a scowl. "Lock her up!" he ordered. "Chain her so she can't even twitch her fingers."

As the soldiers reached for her, Azula straightened her back and smiled. Katara's heart fell into the pit of her stomach – she _knew_ that look! "The Fire Lord has invited you to a banquet in the Fire Nation," she said clearly.

_What? _As Katara stared at her, wondering if she had gone mad, she heard a strangely quiet voice from her right. "I am honored to accept his invitation." She heard the whisper of steel as Suki drew her sword. Awareness dawned, white-hot. _Oh, gods – Suki was in Azula's custody while Azula had control of the Dai Li! _She spun around to see the Kyoshi warrior springing at Zuko's throne, her sword pulled back. Suki's pupils were dilated. _Brainwashed!_

"_No!" _The scream was an unfamiliar sound, bursting from the throat of one who seldom spoke above a murmur. Katara watched in shock as the Fire Lady threw herself between Zuko and his attacker! The blade struck; Mai fell and rolled to one side, where she lay limply in a growing pool of blood. A fan lashed out, catching the Fire Lord on the side of the head! He went down as Katara pulled the cork from her water skin. Sokka, Toph and Iroh began to battle the Kyoshi warrior; she heard Sokka cry out Suki's name, his voice full of anguish.

There were cries from behind her! Katara spun back just in time to see Azula dispatch the last of her guards with a well-placed kick. The next instant, a jet of blue flame flew at the crumpled form of Mai! Katara sent a wave of water flying out to shield the Fire Lady. Then she leaped forward to place herself between Mai and Azula, drawing her water into a whirling form around her own body.

"A rematch, is it, waterbender?" Azula whirled her hands about her, and streaks of electricity followed her fingertips. "Bend _this!" _The lightning shot out! Katara barely managed to dodge it; she heard the stone behind her crack under the force of the bolt. Snarling, she planted her feet and launched an ice skewer straight at Azula's sneering face! Somehow, the firebender avoided the attack – Katara thought she might have kicked the improvised javelin out of the air, but she wasn't sure. The fireballs flew thick and fast, and she had to bend shield after shield, bracing herself against their impact.

The fight was growing difficult. Katara was at a disadvantage in that she couldn't move her feet much, for fear of exposing the unconscious Fire Lady to Azula's attacks. She was running out of bending water, too – the fire continually turned some of her stock into steam, and there was a limit to how much she could pull back out of the air! It was with great relief that she saw a boomerang go flying at Azula's head. With a snarl, the firebender ducked, and the pause gave Katara a chance to replenish her water stock. The waterbender flashed her brother a quick smile of thanks.

Now they were backing Azula up. As the firebender would attack one of them, the other would attack _her. _Then the throne room doors burst open, admitting a stream of imperial guards! Azula cursed audibly and began to firebend like a maniac, whips and sheets of blue flame flying in every direction. No one could get near her, and there was too much fire for Katara to be able to tell if anyone had managed to land a hit.

_Crack! _The ground split underneath Azula's feet! She stumbled and fell forward, her firebending interrupted. A column of rock shot up, connecting solidly with her midsection, flinging her backward like a rag doll! She struck the wall with a sickening crunch, and dropped to the ground. Katara turned in time to see Toph fling out her arm, sending half the wall tumbling down onto Azula's broken body. The firebender vanished under the avalanche of marble.

Katara's first thought was for Zuko and Mai. She turned toward them, quickly pulling her water to herself. Zuko was up; he looked a bit dazed, and there was blood on his face from a cut on the side of his head. He staggered to his wife's side and fell on his knees beside her, pulling her up into his arms. "Mai," he cried softly. "Mai!"

Quickly, Katara knelt down across from him. Bending her water around her hands like gloves, she laid her fingers on the woman's side, on either side of the bloody wound. _There was a lot of internal bleeding – a lot. The sword had thrust in from one side through to the other. Katara's heart sank. _"This isn't good," she whispered, tears pricking her eyes as she tried to repair the damage to one of Mai's lungs. "Spirits…this isn't good!"

The Fire Lady's amber eyes opened, focusing on her husband's face. She reached up to lay her hand on his chest; her white fingers were stained with her own blood. "Zuko," she whispered, and coughed faintly. Flecks of crimson appeared on her lips.

"Mai." He threaded his fingers into her hair, holding her head against his chest. "Hang on, Mai!"

Katara's eyes were glazing over. _Gods, there's so much blood! _She didn't know what to try to heal next. She had seen wounds like this before – back in the Battle of Sozin's Comet. A growing sense of doom came over her as she tried to knit together the fallen woman's other lung. "Come on," she cried through her teeth. "Come _on!"_ There was so much damage…

Mai's long fingers brushed up to the side of Zuko's face. A weak smile twitched her lips. "Zuko," she whispered again. "I love you…"

"Don't try to talk, Mai," he said gently. "You're hurt! Rest."

Her breathing was shallow and rapid. Her hand dropped to her side again. Katara, still trying desperately to stem the flow of blood, groaned through her clenched jaw. Mai's blood-flecked lips moved again. "I'm sorry. Tell…tell Zulie I love her…" Her eyes closed, and her head rolled limply against Zuko's chest. A moment later, Katara felt her heart stop beating.

_Oh, gods! _Katara closed her eyes and sat back on her heels. Her hands fell nervelessly at her sides. _I should have tried to heal her sooner! I should have been able to stop Suki…I…I should have… _Tears streamed down her face. She could hear Zuko's choked sobs. _I've failed. It's my fault…_

Strong arms encircled her. Gasping, Katara opened her eyes to find herself weeping on Toph's shoulder. The general's eyes were pained. "It's not your fault, Sweetness," she said gently. "You did what you could. It's not your fault." Katara leaned into her and sobbed bitterly.


	23. Bridges

Katara stopped before the gangplank, her eyes on the huge bulk of the ship. Had it really only been three days since she had last been here? It seemed like an eternity had passed since she had awakened to find June standing above her on the steps. She took a deep breath. A hand brushed gently against her back. "You sure you don't want me to come with?" Toph asked.

The waterbender smiled and shook her head. "No. Thanks, but…no. I think she'd rather hear it from just me." She took Toph's hand in hers. "You'll wait for me?"

"Yeah. I'll wait." The earthbender nodded quietly. "We have a lot to talk about." Katara leaned up and kissed her cheek. Then, with another deep breath, she headed up the gangplank.

Ty Lee looked up as the waterbender made her way down toward her cell. Her gray eyes lit up. "Katara! I'm so glad to see you!" At the waterbender's word, one of the soldiers opened the door, and Katara moved inside to hug the former acrobat. "I'm so glad you're all right," Ty Lee said softly. "Is…Is Chanya..?"

"She's fine," the waterbender said. She paused, not sure how to proceed. "Ty, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

The prisoner winced visibly. She turned her head away. "Why do I not like your tone?" she asked, her voice very small.

Katara took Ty Lee's hands in hers. "Azula got into the palace," she said quietly. "She was in custody, but…well, she had an assassin planted to take out the Fire Lord. But when Zuko got attacked, Mai put herself between them. She's…" She stopped, biting her lips at the growing dread in the acrobat's eyes. "I'm so sorry, Ty," she whispered. "Mai…she's dead."

Tears overflowed, and Ty Lee buried her face in her hands as her shoulders began to shake. Katara sighed and looked down. "I talked to Zuko," she said after a while. "He's agreed to lift your banishment temporarily, so that you can go to her funeral."

"What about Azula?" The acrobat raised her head, her face still twisted in grief.

"Azula won't be bothering you." Katara's face was grim, remembering how they had pulled the half-dead firebender from the heap of broken stone. "She's locked up until the Fire Lord decides what to do with her. I'm sure it won't be anything pleasant."

She stayed with the prisoner until the first throes of grief had passed, then quietly took her leave. The blind earthbender was waiting on the shore. "Hey," she said, as the waterbender approached. "How'd it go? You all right?"

"I'm fine." Katara wondered if that was true. "She's sad, but I think she'll be all right."

The general's callused fingers weaved in with hers. "Come on, Sugar Queen. Let's go talk. I know a good place where we won't be interrupted." Katara nodded wordlessly and went with her. After they had walked for a minute or two, the earthbender released her hand and put an arm possessively around her waist. The waterbender couldn't help smiling a bit. She had missed Toph's touch.

"You went to see Suki this morning," she murmured. "How is she doing?"

Making a face, the general shook her head. "She's as good as we can expect, I guess," she said. "She still won't come out of her room. It'll probably be a long time before she recovers from this. Suki blames herself, you know." Katara nodded sadly. _I'll have to see how Sokka's doing, later._ The two women fell silent as they walked.

They wound up in one of the gardens in the palace grounds, one hidden away behind high hedges and moon peach trees. Toph drew her to a small bench underneath one of the trees. Uncertainly, Katara sat down on it; the earthbender dropped to the ground cross-legged, much as she had done as a child. There was an uncomfortable pause.

Toph spoke first. "You really hurt me, Katara." Her voice was low, her eyes averted.

"I know." The waterbender nodded miserably. 'I'm sorry."

"That's not enough." The earthbender's dark brows drew down into a frown. "I don't _share, _Katara! If I want you, then I want _you._ And if that's not good enough for you, then you need to tell me now, because –"

"Toph, please. Stop." Katara leaned forward to gather Toph's hands into hers. "I know there's no excuse for what I did. I felt sorry for her, and I felt responsible for her – and I let her seduce me. It was stupid, it was wrong, and it was…I betrayed you."

"Yeah. You did." There was another pause before Toph sighed. "Listen, Katara. I'm still kind of mad at you, all right? But I missed you, I admit it. I still…_ach!" _She thumped her fist on the ground in irritation, leaving a large dent in the earth. "I still love you," she admitted, the words seemingly dragged from her by force.

Katara knew something about what such an admission would cost Toph. Her eyes prickled. "Oh, Toph…"

"I'm not finished, Princess." The earthbender held up an imperious hand. Katara meekly closed her mouth. "I'm not saying that I forgive you – yet. Not completely, anyway. But I'm willing to work on this, if you are." She scowled, pointing at her. "But if you ever cheat on me again, there isn't a hole in this world big enough for you to hide in. Do you get my drift, Sweetness?"

Tears shimmered in Katara's blue eyes as she moved forward, put her arms around Toph's neck, and rested her head in the crook of the earthbender's neck. "Yes." She felt the general's arms around her, and closed her eyes blissfully. "I missed you, Toph," she whispered. "I love you!"

Gently, with a touch almost feather-light, Toph kissed the corner of Katara's jaw. It was just a brief brushing of the skin, and instant's puff of breath against the waterbender's cheek; then it was gone. "Come on, Sugar Queen," Toph said quietly. "Let's go find the Fire Lord and see how he's doing." They rose and headed into the palace together, their fingers intertwined.


	24. Evening Star

The sun was just beginning to set in the west, its rays painting the world in shades of red and gold. The assembled crowd was solemn, silent – there was no joy in the capital city of the Fire Nation that day.

Katara sat near the front, one row behind the royal family. Beside her was Ty Lee, chained by the wrist to her wheelchair, her round face full of sorrow. On the other side was Toph, her blind eyes gazing aimlessly ahead. In front and slightly to Katara's left sat Zuko, straight and stoic; his daughter sat beside him, swinging her legs a little, her shoulders bowed. Beside Zulie sat little Chanya; she was quiet, her hands folded in her lap.

The deep note of the ceremonial horns rumbled the ground. As one, the crowd rose to its feet and turned to look at the wide aisle. Slowly, the body of the Fire Lady was carried from the rear of the assembly to the front, to the waiting pyre.

As they bore Mai past her, Katara took a closer look. Four members of the imperial guard carried her on a golden litter. They had dressed her in her official robes, all scarlet and burgundy and gold; her white hands were folded neatly over her middle. _She looks peaceful_, Katara thought, struggling with the lump in her throat. _Almost as if she died in her sleep, instead of…instead of the way she did. _In front of her, Princess Zulie began to sob softly, burying her face in her hands. The little Avatar put her arm around her; Katara's eyes misted.

The pyre was gigantic – a wooden structure over twenty feet high, topped with a platform piled high with tinder. A huge wooden statue rested behind the pile of wood, depicting a phoenix and a dragon intertwined. It had been gilded; it seemed to glow in the rays of the evening sun. Reverently, Mai's body was lifted to the top of the pyre and laid on the tinder. The guards climbed down, then took their places beneath the four corners of the structure.

Silence fell. The daylight grew less and less as the sun dipped down over the horizon. A man stepped in front of the pyre and raised his arms; Katara saw that he was one of the Fire Sages. "As we bid farewell to the sun, the source of fire - the source of life itself! – we also bid farewell to our lady and our queen, Fire Lady Mai, wife to Fire Lord Zuko of Sozin's Line, mother of Princess Zulie. Fire Lady Mai – Her Imperial Majesty, by the grace of Agni, Fire Incarnate, Beloved of the Fire Gods, Queen of all the Sunlands, Empress of the Dragon Throne, Beloved of the Spirits, Mother of the Fire Nation – infinite blessings upon her name. The friendly flames will usher her from the realm of the living. May her spirit burn brightly in the next world!" As he spoke, the sun dwindled to just a sliver. There was a pregnant pause – the four imperial guards assumed firebending stances – and then there was complete darkness.

_Whoosh! _Four simultaneous bursts of fire struck the top of the pyre! It erupted into flames, blazing spectacularly against the twilit sky. At the same time, the drums and the horns sounded; the ground shook beneath Katara's feet. She watched the fire blaze, and felt tears on her face, although she wasn't conscious of crying. A thought struck her, and she looked down to find Ty Lee sobbing bitterly at her elbow, her face crushed down into her arms. Katara bent and put her arms around her.

The sound of the instruments died away, and there was only the crackle of the flames. No one moved or spoke. They watched as the fire consumed the pyre, and slowly licked down the support beams of the structure; they watched as it suddenly collapsed, in a shower of sparks and tongues of flame; they watched as the fire blazed on, turning wood and gold and body into ash.

At last, when there were only glowing embers left, torches were lit, and the Fire Sage raised his arms again. "We will now commit the spirit of our sister and our queen to the Eternal Flame," he said. Everyone bowed low – seeing which, Katara did the same. "Mighty Agni, receive the soul of the Fire Lady, your servant, the Empress of the Fire Nation. By your grace, accord to her the honor in death which she bore in life."

"By your grace," the crowd intoned.

"Accord to us your blessing now – your strength to the nation and the family she left behind!"

"Your blessing," the assembly murmured.

The Fire Sage lowered his hands, then dropped to one knee. The crowd followed suit. Somberly, the royal family stood and made their way from the assembly, in single file. Katara noted that Chanya was holding Zulie's hand tightly; pride and sorrow welled up in her heart. _Good girl, Chanya. Good girl._

When the royals had gone, the nobles rose to their feet and filed from the gathering. Katara turned to Toph as they walked. "I'm going to the ship with Ty Lee," she murmured. "I'll come to you as soon as I'm done." The general nodded, although a slight frown flashed across her face.

Ty Lee was silent as the guards escorted them aboard the ship and down to the brig. Her sobs had stopped, but tears still trickled down her cheeks every now and then. Katara helped her to lie down, and spread the thin blanket over her as the soldiers took the wheelchair. The waterbender's dark fingers brushed Ty Lee's hair back from her face. "Are you all right?" she asked gently.

"Yeah. I guess." The captive rested her head on her arm; she was trembling a little. Her face twisted. "Katara, I…I miss her already!" Something between a laugh and a sob burst from her. "That doesn't make any sense…I hadn't seen her in months…"

"It makes perfect sense." Katara rubbed Ty Lee's arm, smiling sadly. She took a deep breath, considering. "Ty…I think I can tell you now, since she's…well, since she's gone. When you were banished, Mai called me into her quarters. She asked me to take care of you, Ty Lee."

"Really?" The girl looked up, her eyes wide and shimmering with moisture.

"Really." The waterbender nodded, resting a hand on her shoulder. "She asked me to keep you safe. I would have done it anyway, mind you! But Mai was looking out for you."

The former acrobat let her head fall again. She was smiling through her tears. "I'm…glad," she murmured. "I'm glad she didn't wind up hating me,"

"No." Katara thought back to the conversation she and Mai had had in the palace garden as they watched the children play. She had to swallow a few times to conquer the lump that rose in her throat. "She never hated you, love."

The sky was dark as she made her way back to the palace, to the quarters she was now sharing with Toph. The lamp was still lit, but the earthbender was already in bed. Katara slipped into her nightgown and slid in between the silk sheets with a sigh, turning her back to the general. She felt the bed shift, and then a warm hand slipped under her arm, and she was pulled back into Toph's body. "Are you all right, Sweetness?" she murmured. "I hope you're not still blaming yourself."

"Not too much." Katara hugged the arm to herself and closed her eyes. She sighed as she felt the earthbender's lips skim along the side of her neck. "I'm okay."

"Good." Toph dropped a kiss on her cheek. "Good night, Katara."

"Good night, Toph." The waterbender smiled. Comforted by the warmth, lulled by the sound of the earthbender's breathing, she soon fell fast asleep.


	25. Storytelling

It seemed strange that the world just continued turning after all the turmoil and grief of the past few days. Katara looked up at the blue sky and sighed a little.

Toph was reclining against a ridge of rock she had bent upward, her arms folded across her chest, her face shrouded in loose strands of black hair. The waterbender ran her eye idly down the earthbender's body, trying to gauge her mood. She didn't seem angry, but she did seem a bit distracted. _But then, we all are right now, _she added mentally. Her gaze moved to the two children who were playing by the fountain.

Little Chanya was balancing lichee nuts on broad, flat leaves, and then floating them on the water like boats. Zulie sat beside her. Normally the young princess was the more active of the two; now she was sitting quietly, watching the bobbing leaves with halfhearted interest. Chanya used her waterbending to make a "storm," capsizing all the little boats and laughing. Zulie giggled faintly, but her smile faded soon after.

Katara pulled her knees up to her chest and watched the princess, remembering. _I was younger than Zulie is when I lost my mother. _She remembered the horrible, aching void she had carried for months afterward – as if her insides had been torn out and replaced with empty air._ Gran-Gran used to tell us stories, and that would always help. Maybe it would help Zulie a bit, too._ Katara straightened up. "Chanya, Zulie, come here. I want to tell you a story."

"A _story!" _The little Avatar's eyes lit up. She skipped to where Katara sat and plunked herself on her lap, wriggling with excitement. "Will you tell us a story about Avatars and adventures and dragons and things?"

"Hm." Katara extended her hand to Zulie and smiled. The princess came and sat down beside her; the woman put her arm around her and pulled her close. "How about I tell you the story of Yue, the princess who became the Moon Spirit?"

"Ooh, that's one of my _favorites!" _Chanya nestled her head against Katara's chest and waited expectantly.

"Have you heard this one, Zulie?" Katara looked kindly down at the Fire Nation child. Zulie shook her head listlessly. "All right. I'll start at the beginning, then. Once there was a city in the north. It was in a land of snow and ice and oceans."

Chanya leaned in Zulie's direction. "That's the Northern Water Tribe," she whispered.

"Don't interrupt, Chanya," Katara reproved gently. The child settled down in her lap with a frown and a wriggle. "Now, there was a beautiful princess in the Northern Water Tribe – her name was Yue. When she was born, she was very sick. Her mother and father pleaded with the Moon Spirit, Tui, to save her life. They dipped her in the sacred pond, where the Moon Spirit and the Ocean Spirit made their home. Yue's hair turned white, and her life was saved, because the Moon Spirit had given her a part of its own spirit to strengthen her." Chanya's eyes sparkled. Zulie was listening, although Katara couldn't tell whether she was enjoying the story or not.

In the background, Toph sat up and turned her ear toward the little group. The Water Tribe woman smiled at her. "When Princess Yue turned sixteen years old, she met a handsome young warrior. They fell in love with each other, and the warrior was very happy. Yue was sad, though, because she was a princess, and the warrior was only a soldier, and that meant they could never be together."

"That's true." Zulie nodded gravely. "When I grow up, I can only marry a nobleman."

_So she already knows that at seven years old? _Katara rubbed the little princess's back lightly and went on with the story. "A great fleet of battleships attacked the city where Yue lived one day. (This was when the Avatar was visiting them.)" The child in Katara's lap squirmed with excitement. "Even though all of the city's warriors and the Avatar fought bravely, the enemy broke down the wall and flooded in! The admiral of the fleet even made it all the way to the sacred pond, and he killed the Moon Spirit, so that none of the warriors could bend water to defend their homes anymore. The moon disappeared, and there were only stars in the sky."

The princess looked up at Katara, her brow wrinkled. "How could he do that?" she wanted to know. "Spirits can't be killed."

"Not usually, no," Katara agreed. "But the Ocean Spirit, La, and the Moon Spirit, Tui, came to the world a long time ago and took on bodies so that they could help the waterbenders. They became mortal."

Zulie wrapped her arms around herself and scowled, glaring down at her feet. "That was stupid of them," she muttered. "If I was a spirit, I'd never want to die."

Katara paused, wondering if the child would go on, but Zulie was silent. "Anyway," she said after a while, "the Moon Spirit was killed. The Avatar went into the spirit world to find out what could be done. When he came back, he told them that, since a piece of the Moon Spirit lived inside Princess Yue, she could restore the Moon Spirit. But to do it, Yue would have to die." Both children abruptly grew very silent. "The warrior didn't want her to do it, but Yue knew she had to – otherwise, all of her people would be killed or taken prisoner by the invading army. So Yue sacrificed herself, and she became the new Moon Spirit." Katara paused again. "This is the part where the Avatar comes in, Chanya."

"Tell us." The little waterbender laid her head on Katara's shoulder again.

"With the Moon Spirit and the Ocean Spirit restored, the Avatar decided that now was the time to help the city. He merged his powers with La's, and became a huge creature, made all of seawater!" The woman patted Chanya's arm. "As this creature, the Avatar roared through the city and destroyed the invading army. And lastly, in a rage, the Ocean Spirit took the evil admiral who had killed Tui. No one knows what happened to him, but he was never seen again."

Chanya smiled with fierce joy; little Zulie frowned. "What happened to the handsome warrior who loved the princess?" she asked.

"The warrior was very sad," Katara said. "He had loved her, and he missed her when she was gone. But he was strong! He went with the Avatar and fought alongside him, and became a great hero. In the end, he even found a warrior woman to be his wife. He would always remember the beautiful princess, of course – but he loved his warrior bride, and was happy."

Zulie leaned against Katara, sighing and closing her eyes. "I miss my mother," she whispered, "and I can't ever have another one."

"No." The woman hugged her with one arm. "Zulie, did I ever tell you what happened to my mother when I was little?" The princess shook her head without opening her eyes; wetness shimmered on the closed lids. "When I was a little girl – just a bit younger than you – an battleship attacked my village. They were looking for me."

"For _you?" _This startled Zulie out of her silence; she turned wet eyes on the waterbender. "How come they were looking for you, Ambassador?"

"Just 'Katara' is fine," the woman murmured. "They were looking for me because I was the last waterbender in my village. I didn't know that they were looking for me, of course, but they were. The captain of the ship found my mother and asked her where the last waterbender was. She told him that _she_ was the waterbender, and they killed her. She died to protect me."

The little princess had rested one hand on the arm that encircled her waist; Katara winced as the child's sharp nails began to dig into her skin. "Mother got hurt when she tried to protect Daddy," she whispered.

"That's right." Katara kept her voice soft. "Maybe I didn't get to be with my mother as long as I wanted to, but I always remembered her and loved her. And I knew I could always be proud of her, because she was very brave." She stopped. "Mai…I mean, your mother was a very brave woman. You can always be proud of her." Zulie suddenly cuddled into her, pressing her face into her side, and nodded as tears squeezed from beneath her tightly-shut eyelids. Little Chanya hugged her, and Katara put an arm around each of them. The Water Tribe woman looked up; Toph's blind eyes were gazing in their direction. She and the earthbender exchanged faint smiles.


	26. One Last Jab

Katara paused outside the door of the courtroom and watched the people making their way inside. Her legs felt weak. An arm encircled her waist, and Toph was smiling down at her. "Hey. You all right?" the earthbender asked quietly.

"I don't want to go in there, Toph." Katara's voice was barely audible. "I don't want to go in there, and rehash all the horrible things that have happened. I don't want to lay eyes on that firebending witch again. I don't want to go through another court case, and then watch someone else die – even if it is Azula! I just want to go home and forget that all of this ever happened."

Toph nodded slowly. Her arm squeezed Katara a little. "You've had a rough week, Princess," she said. "I don't blame you for being out of sorts." They stood together for a moment or two. "Hey," Toph murmured, "I'm going in with you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I know. Thanks." Katara managed a shaky smile. She took a deep breath. "I guess we'd better go in."

The court looked much the same as it had when Ty Lee had been the defendant. There were fewer observers, however – Zuko having decided it was safer that way. The two women took their seats and waited for the trial to start.

The Fire Lord entered, and all bowed to the ground until he had taken his seat on his throne. Katara looked at him as she sat down again – there was a painful vacancy on the cushion beside him. _He must feel it. Poor Zuko! _Katara sighed. Toph's hand found hers and squeezed reassuringly.

Before the trial began, a simple ceremony took place. A soldier escorted Suki into the court. The Kyoshi warrior was dressed in her traditional armor, but wore no weapons or warpaint. She looked pale and subdued as she quietly knelt down – Katara felt a rush of sympathy for her sister-in-law. Zuko rose to his feet and extended one arm in Suki's direction. "Let the records show that Suki of the Kyoshi warriors, wife to Ambassador Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, has been cleared of any and all wrongdoing in connection with the death of Fire Lady Mai." His voice was clear and steady. "Your honor and status in the Fire Nation are unchanged, warrior Suki."

The young woman rose to her feet and bowed, unsmiling. "Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko," she said, her voice hollow. That was all.

"Your name is cleared. This will not be mentioned again." He lowered his arm and resumed his seat. Suki bowed again as her guard melted into the crowd. Turning on her heel, she left the room; she still looked grim. Katara sighed and shook her head.

Then silence fell. There was a breathless pause, and the tension level in the room rose. At last, the door swung open again, and the prisoner was brought in.

Azula had been badly injured when Toph had buried her in stones, and hadn't been healed any more than was necessary to keep her alive. Even so, Zuko was taking no chances. They had chained their prisoner to something like a gurney; her hands and feet were encased in fireproof cloth. Someone had even strapped a muzzle over her mouth and nose. Katara nodded in agreement – she had seen Azula breathe fire before. One of the guards reached down and pulled a lever; the foot of the gurney came down, leaving Azula in something like a standing position. Her sneering eyes met the cold fury of her brother's.

Their gazes locked. Katara watched them both in silence, only peripherally aware of the man who was giving the obligatory announcement of dates, names and titles. If either of the two siblings could firebend with their eyes, both of them would have been reduced to piles of soot. This trial, she realized, would be nothing like Ty Lee's. _I wonder if Zuko will be able to hold it together?_

Now silence fell. The Fire Lord spoke. "Azula of the Fire Nation, daughter of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai of Sozin's line, you stand before this court accused of high treason, war crimes and murder. You are charged with war crimes in the cities of Ba Sing Se and Omashu; kidnapping Fire Lady Mai in the city of Ba Sing Se; conspiracy to assault Fire Lady Mai in that same city; conspiracy to instigate war between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom; ten counts of terrorism against the citizens of the Earth Kingdom; assault against General Bei Fong of the Earth Kingdom; two counts of kidnapping and one count of assault against Ambassador Katara of the Southern Water Tribe; one count of kidnapping Avatar Chanya of the Northern Water Tribe; one count of attempted murder against the Fire Lord; and one count of murder against Fire Lady Mai. How do you plead?"

_Wow. That was quite a list. _Katara counted quickly on her fingers. _Ten charges, if you don't count all the separate "counts" of things…and really, that's a kind of stripped down list. I could have added a few! The attempted murder of Avatar Aang, for example… _She turned her attention to Azula.

One of the soldiers unbuckled the muzzle over the captive's face, and stepped back. The prisoner smirked. Katara felt a grudging admiration for how self-possessed the young woman was. Even injured, in chains and on trial for her life, Azula still looked every inch like the daughter of royal blood that she was. "Well, _Zuzu, _I really should plead innocent, just to make you go to the trouble of pretending this is a real trial." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "But really, I'm sure we're all tired of the charade. Guilty, _my lord."_

Katara's mouth fell open as she listened. After everything, Azula was _still_ defiant and sneering and full of contempt? Even after _murdering Zuko's wife? _And Mai had once been a friend of hers! Could this woman even be human?

To Katara's relief, Zuko did not rise to his sister's bait. "I would order you to have more respect for this court," he said coldly, "but I know it's useless to expect you to show respect for anything." Azula smirked again. "The court finds you guilty on all charges, as per your plea, prisoner. Let the records show it."

"Oh please, _Zuzu._ Why all this insistence on protocol? I did have your wife killed, you know." The captive's lip curled as she jeered. "Father would have simply struck his enemy down. It's obvious that you're not _half _the Fire Lord he was!"

A gasp and murmur went through the court at this. Katara quickly looked up at the throne; she couldn't see Zuko's expression through the curtain of fire, but she thought the flames leaped just a bit higher. "Azula of the Fire Nation, daughter of Ursa and Ozai, you have been found guilty of high treason, war crimes and murder," he said, ignoring his sister's outburst. _He's grown, _Katara thought in awe. "You are hereby sentenced to die for your crimes." He paused, and the waterbender thought a bit of dark amusement tinged his next words. "As a former member of the royal family, you will, of course, be allowed to choose your own method of execution."

"How charitable of you." Azula bared her teeth. "Well, since you're feeling so generous, brother dear, I'll take you up on your offer. The blood of Fire God Agni runs through my veins. I was born in fire, and I will die in the same. I choose the Threefold Cleansing of Agni!" Katara's mouth fell open in shock. She heard Toph whisper a curse beside her. _What? The Three…spirits, Azula really is insane!_

Ty Lee had once told her about the Threefold Cleansing. It was the punishment reserved for traitors to the Fire Nation. The condemned prisoner would be brutally flogged, then thrown into a hole for nearly a month, and finally burned at the stake. It was horrific. _Why in the name of all that is holy would Azula _choose_ that?! _Eyes wide, Katara turned her gaze to the throne.

The sheet of flame hid Zuko's expression. He was still sitting on his throne, as straight as an arrow, his hands on the armrests. As she watched, he inclined his head. "Very well." His voice was still steady, but she thought his words were clipped a bit shorter than usual. "Your sentence will be carried out one week from today. I advise you to spend the time in soul-searching, Azula." He gestured, and Azula's guards stepped forward to wheel the captive from the court. The heavy double doors closed on her mocking laughter.

Katara's eyes turned to Toph as people began to leave. "Why would she choose that?" she sputtered. "Is she that insane?"

"No. It felt pretty deliberate to me." The earthbender shook her head grimly. "Azula loves to mess with people. I think she's trying to twist the dagger in Zuko one last time."

"But that's ridiculous," Katara protested. "The Threefold Cleansing is horrific. She might not even survive long enough to be burned at the stake! Why would she put herself through that just to spite her brother?"

"Maybe she feels like this is her last card to play." Toph shrugged as she rose to her feet. "Come on, Sweetness. We'd better go see if the Fire Lord's okay." Nodding, Katara rose and followed.


	27. Scourge

It was barely dawn, the sunlight just beginning to touch the night-blackened world with bits of pastel color. Katara's breath made puffs of white in the cool morning air; she was grateful for the thicker burgundy robe she had thrown on before leaving her quarters.

She'd never been in this part of the palace grounds before. It was a small courtyard with high stone walls, austere and forbidding. To Katara's right stood a wooden structure consisting of three stripped logs, fastened together like a tripod. The waterbender shivered and looked to her left, only to see the gaping maw of a hole in the ground. She shut her eyes completely, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" She looked up to find Toph beside her. The blind earthbender brushed her hand lightly against Katara's back. "We aren't required to be here, you know."

"I'm sure." The Water Tribe woman pressed her lips together. "I can't let Zuko go through this alone, Toph. He doesn't have Mai for support anymore."

Toph sighed and shook her head, a rueful smile twitching her lips. "I don't know, Princess. I mean, I know you're not a delicate flower or anything, but…have you ever _seen_ something like this before?"

"I've been in battle," Katara said shortly.

"That's different." The general looked sober. "Katara, seriously –"

"I'm not changing my mind." The waterbender's blue eyes blazed as she glared at her companion. "Do you really think I'd abandon a friend at a time like this?"

The earthbender paused, then nodded her acceptance. "All right, Sweetness." She pulled her green cloak around herself; her blind eyes turned toward the door that led up from the dungeons. "I think they're coming." Reflexively, Katara moved closer to Toph as she turned to look. The general's fingers found her hand and clasped it gently.

The Fire Lord appeared first. His face was grim. Katara thought she saw relief flicker in his eyes as he spotted the two women; without a word, he moved to stand near them, about five yards away, and stood like a soldier at attention. Neither Toph nor Katara spoke. All eyes were on the door Zuko had just emerged from.

When it finally opened, Katara was surprised to see Suki making her way into the courtyard. She was closely followed by two Fire Nation soldiers, who were carrying something like a metal stretcher; Azula was bound to it with thick leather straps. The soldiers set the prisoner down by the wooden structure as Suki moved to stand beside Zuko. He looked at her. "Did you block her firebending?"

"Yes." The Kyoshi warrior smiled grimly. "Just before we brought her out, Fire Lord Zuko. She can't so much as light a pipe." Katara nodded to herself. _That's right. Ty Lee taught the Kyoshi warriors her chi-blocking jitsu back in the day…I'd forgotten._

"How long does it last?" he asked.

"Anywhere from two to four hours. Plenty of time." Suki folded her arms and waited, her blue-green eyes narrowing as they fixed on the prisoner. Zuko followed suit, and gave a cool nod to the soldiers. They began to release the straps that held the prisoner.

Azula turned her glare in Zuko's direction as they pulled her to her feet. She looked furious. _And maybe a touch afraid?_ "Coward," she spat. "Getting some Earth Kingdom wench to chi-block me. Are you afraid of me, Zuzu? Worried that I'm going to succeed in finally killing you, like I killed Mai?" The Fire Lord said nothing, merely gesturing to the guards. They fastened Azula's wrists together with handcuffs. She snarled like a vicious dog as they dragged her to the tripod. They leaned her forward, laying her against one of the logs as they forced her arms up. The chain at her wrists was hooked over a metal hook over her head; her legs were strapped on either side of the log, holding her outstretched.

One of the soldiers moved to one side and picked up a whip. The lash was about two feet long and an inch thick, formed of braided leather thongs. Katara shuddered and looked away as they tore open the back of the prisoner's shirt, baring her to the waist. She felt Toph's hand tighten a little around hers. Breathing deeply, she looked back. The soldier with the whip was standing beside Azula, the whip held loosely in his right hand, his eyes on the Fire Lord. Katara glanced at Zuko; his face was impassive, although his eyes were narrowed a little more than usual. Calmly, he nodded his head once.

_They're going to do it. They're actually going to do it. _Katara's heart was in her throat as she turned her eyes back on Azula. The former princess had never been a large woman, but she looked even tinier in Katara's eyes now. The waterbender's hand crushed Toph's as the lash struck.

The blow left a red stripe on the paper-whiteness of the prisoner's skin, cutting across the mottled bruising left from her capture. Katara flinched as the second stroke fell, and then the third. The soldier fell into a rhythm, working his way from the top of Azula's shoulders down to the base of her spine. With a shiver, the waterbender turned away, unable to watch any more. Toph rubbed her knuckles soothingly with the pad of her thumb. Katara's teeth gritted; she could still hear the merciless blows of the lash, and the monotone voice of the man counting the strokes. Azula herself was as silent as a tomb. For this, at least, Katara was grateful – she wasn't sure if she could bear it if the girl started crying.

_Crack! _"Sixteen." _Crack! _"Seventeen." _Crack! _"Eighteen."

Toph had been right – this was nothing like battle. In a fight, there was no time to really register what was going on. But here…here there was nothing to distract her, nothing to shield her from the impact of what was happening! Katara bit her lip, hard. The metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth. She found herself wishing the former Fire Princess had chosen beheading.

At the twenty-fifth stroke, the waterbender heard a low groan, like the whimper of a beaten dog. Tears came to her eyes. With a choked sob, Katara pressed herself into Toph, and felt the earthbender's arm wrap around her. Four or five blows rang out without further cries from Azula. Then the prisoner began to whimper – no sobs, no screams – just small whines squeezing out from between clenched teeth. Katara pressed her forehead into the general's shoulder.

_Crack! _"Thirty-four." _Crack! _"Thirty-five."

_Why am I pitying this woman? _The waterbender cringed as Azula began uttering sharp cries. _After everything she's done, I should be cheering…I…she murdered Mai! She's the reason Zulie lost her mother! _Tears streamed down Katara's face. _What am I crying about? She's evil! She's…_ But, try as she might, she couldn't stop weeping.

Finally – finally! – it was done. Katara rubbed her streaming eyes on her sleeve and dared to look at the captive. She flinched again. Azula's back was a mass of angry welts and bloody cuts. The soldiers released the straps and chains that held her; the prisoner crumpled onto the concrete, only half-conscious. They grasped her by the arms and dragged her bodily to the waiting hole. A loop of rope was fastened around her body, underneath her arms, and she was lowered into the prison. Katara couldn't bring herself to look more closely at the hole. She watched, stricken, while the soldiers retrieved their rope and moved a heavy steel cover over the mouth of the underground prison.

It was over – for now. The waterbender drew a shaky breath. Her eyes turned toward the Fire Lord. Zuko's face was impassive, but she could see the lines of tension in his jaw, and in the muscles of his bare arms. He gave a curt nod to the soldiers. "Put her under heavy guard," she ordered. "She might be half-dead in a hole, but she's still breathing, so she's still dangerous." The men saluted, and Zuko turned away, his eyes lingering for a brief moment on Katara. "I'll be in my study," he said shortly, and strode away, his crimson cloak flapping behind him.


	28. Interlude

Katara sat cross-legged on the bed, watching forlornly as Toph packed her things. The earthbender was quiet, her face carefully neutral. Her callused fingers finally closed the pack and pulled the drawstrings tight. Only then did her milky eyes turn in Katara's direction. "It's not like I _want_ to go, you know."

A sad smile twitched Katara's lips. "I know," she said. "It's just that I'll miss you."

"Heh." The earthbender grinned. "It's your own fault for hooking up with someone like me, Sweetness. If you want a lover who can take extended vacations in the Fire Nation, you have to choose someone other than the general of an army." She shrugged helplessly. "There's a limit to the stuff I can take care of via messenger hawk," she added, with a hint of apology.

"Yeah." The waterbender reached out and rested her hand on one of Toph's. "It's okay, really. I mean, I'll come back to Ba Sing Se with Ty Lee soon enough, anyway. I just went so long without you, and I…yeah. I'll miss you."

The general frowned. "So you're still bringing the summersaulting weirdo, then."

"Toph!" Katara scowled back. "She's not a weirdo."

"That's a matter of opinion." Toph tossed her pack unceremoniously into a corner. "I had kind of hoped that you'd give her her walking papers, all right?"

The dark-skinned woman sighed. "I guess I never did tell you." She looked down at her hands, clasping them in her lap. "Mai asked me to watch out for Ty Lee, back before I brought her back to Ba Sing Se. I promised her that I would. And now that…well, now that Mai's dead, I just…I can't bring myself to break that promise, Toph." She smiled a bit. "Besides, I couldn't just abandon her."

"Hmph." Toph turned her head away. "Mai asked you?" Katara affirmed it in a whisper. The earthbender sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead. There was a pause. "All right, how about this? I know where the freak…where _Ty Lee _lives, and I bet she's tired of sitting in the brig, anyway. Why don't I bring her back to Ba Sing Se myself? It'll save you some trouble, and I won't have to…_think _things."

A lump rose in Katara's throat. _She still doesn't really trust me, and I don't blame her. _She hung her head. "If…if you don't mind, Toph. I guess that would be good." She swallowed a couple of times. "Toph, I'm sorry."

"I know." The earthbender hesitated, then sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out for her. "C'mere." Katara let herself be drawn up against the other woman's body, and rested her head underneath Toph's chin. She closed her eyes. She could smell the earthbender's comforting scent of cut grass and damp soil. Katara breathed it deeply as Toph brushed her fingers through her hair. "Listen, Katara," the general said after a moment or two. "I said before that I couldn't forgive you yet. You remember – back in the garden." The waterbender nodded miserably. "Well, I wasn't ready then. But I think I am, now."

"Really?" Katara moved back to look at Toph's face.

The earthbender snorted in sudden disgust. "Yes, really! You think I'd say something like that if I didn't mean it? Geez, Sweetness."

Katara couldn't help laughing. She fairly dove back into Toph's arms, her lips searching hungrily for the soft skin of her throat. The general uttered something suspiciously like a giggle as they made contact. "That's good," the waterbender murmured, nipping lightly. "But I wish you hadn't told me. It's going to make your leaving even harder!"

"You know, you _could_ come with me," Toph said. "It's not as if anyone's told you that you have to stay here to watch…well, you know."

"No." Katara shook her head regretfully, her fingers playing with the fabric of the earthbender's shirt. "I'm sorry, Toph, but I can't. Even if Zuko didn't need someone to be with him when…when it happens, I think I need to see it for myself. I need to know, Toph. I need to _know _that it's over – that she's…dead." She shivered. "Gods, listen to me! I sound like some bloodthirsty monster."

"You do not." The general scowled. "I get it, believe me! After all Azula's put us through, I kind of want to _know_, myself. But I'm done with her, and I don't need to be there when they roast her." She buried her fingers in Katara's hair and brought her face up close to hers. "Just promise me you'll come back," she said gruffly, her expression unusually vulnerable. "Promise that you'll come to Ba Sing Se when it's over!"

"I promise." The waterbender sealed the oath with a kiss.

After a few moments, Toph reluctantly broke the contact. "I'd better get going, or I'll miss my boat home." She got up from the bed and grabbed her pack from its place in the corner. "You coming to see me off, Sugar Queen?"

"I wouldn't miss it." Katara got up and slid her arm into Toph's. "Lead the way, General Bei Fong." And Toph did.


	29. Requiem

Sokka, Suki and Katara were sitting together at a small table in one of the kitchens, eating supper. Katara and Suki were both gloomy – even Sokka wasn't quite as cheerful as usual. The waterbender picked at her food. "Only one more hour," she murmured finally, voicing the unspoken thoughts of all three.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" The Kyoshi warrior's eyes flashed. "I keep having this nightmare…we head down into the dungeons to get her, and the door's swinging open, and I can hear her laughing, but we can't find her…"

Katara winced, looking away from her sister-in-law. She harbored a deep, burning hatred for Azula, stemming from the days when she and her fellow Kyoshi warriors had been thrown into prison. Some of them had lived. The survivors all had scars, both physical and mental. Katara sighed, pushing a lump of rice around her plate with her chopsticks. She understood hatred. She herself had once nursed a vicious anger against the man who had murdered her mother. With Zuko's help, she had almost killed him – but had stopped short. That had been a turning point in her life. She had realized at that moment that everyone was human. _Everyone._ Cautiously, she raised her sapphire eyes to look at Suki. "It won't really help you, you know."

The Kyoshi warrior's chopsticks hit the table with a bang. "Don't you dare preach at me, Katara," she snarled. "She made me a murderer. And besides, you weren't there in that prison. You didn't see what she did – what she had them do! You didn't have to watch while your friends were tortured to death!"

"No, I didn't. You're right." The waterbender nibbled a bit of spiced meat. "But all that won't end for you tonight."

"Maybe not." Suki's eyes darkened. "But I'm taking all the satisfaction I can out of it. It's just too bad they aren't going to beat her again." Katara couldn't help shivering at the young woman's black fervor. She glanced at Sokka; he was still eating. He caught her gaze and gave a helpless shrug.

The atmosphere in the kitchen suddenly felt hot and oppressive. Katara quietly slid her chair back and rose to her feet. "I need to get some air," she said. "I'll see you both later."

Her feet carried her back to her quarters. She moved out onto the balcony, resting her hands on the stone guardrail, and looked out over the city. The ocean was off in the distance to her right, but she didn't look at it; her thoughts were muddled. She frowned absently as her eyes traced the ridge of the crater the capital city rested in. _Today, Azula dies. _She looked up at the cloudless evening sky. _It's just a day, like any other…a day like the day that Mai died. A day like the day that Ozai was defeated. Just…a day. _She turned her thoughts back to Azula, and then to her brother. _I wonder how Zuko is?_

The decision was almost instantaneous. Katara turned from the balcony and left her quarters, heading for the wing of the palace where the Fire Lord's rooms were. The guards at the door looked at her, but didn't stop her from rapping on it with her knuckles; they knew who she was. "Go away!" came the growl from inside.

Katara bit her lip. "Zuko?" There was a pause. She took a deep breath. _Well, I've come this far. _"Zuko, can I come in?" Still, there was no response. Growing bolder, Katara twisted the knob and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

She had been in these rooms only once before. With a pang, she let her eyes linger over the large balcony, the red tapestries and the white divan. The last time she had been there, Mai had been sitting on that couch. With a sigh, she looked around, and finally spotted the tall, lean form of the Fire Lord out on the balcony. Katara slowly made her way out to stand beside him. For several minutes they simply stood there, looking out at the city. Finally, the waterbender looked at him. His face was calm, although his brows were lowered into something like a frown. "Are you all right, Zuko?" she asked softly.

"Yes." His voice was carefully neutral.

Katara pursed her lips. "Are you all right because you're really all right, or are you just all right because you have to be?"

"Both." His jaw set stubbornly; his golden eyes flicked to look at her for a moment before turning back to the view outside.

The Water Tribe woman sighed, looking down at the white marble guardrail. Her tan fingers brushed lightly over the smooth stone. "Zuko…is there any way that you can have mercy on her?"

"_What?" _Now he did turn to her, his face twisting in outrage. "Katara, why would you even ask me that? How in the world could I spare Azula?"

She took a step back, her hands raising defensively. "No! No, Zuko, that isn't what I meant," she said quickly. "I didn't ask you to spare her. I just wondered if there was any way you could make it less…painful." She bit her lips as he glowered. "I _know_ she deserves it. Please don't ask me to explain, Zuko. I'm not really sure why I'm asking you, myself! But please, can't you do anything?"

The fury drained from his face. He closed his eyes, sighed, and turned away. "I could." He sat down on the guardrail morosely. "But I won't, Katara. I can't." There was a pause. "I hate her," he said suddenly. Katara looked at him. "I hate her!" he insisted. "She's always ruined everything, taken everything away from me. I've lived in her shadow nearly all my life. And how many times has she tried to kill me? She – she _killed Mai!" _His teeth gritted, and he let his head fall forward in defeat. "So why," he muttered, _"why_ do I feel so awful about this?"

Katara didn't know what to say. Impulsively, she moved to his side and put her arms around him. His head rested on her shoulder – his breaths were long, slow and deliberate. "I miss her, Katara," he said at length. The waterbender knew he was no longer talking about his sister, but about his wife. "It just…it seems impossible that she's gone. I keep expecting the door to open, and for her to just walk in."

"I'm so sorry, Zuko," Katara said softly. Her throat ached. "I wish I could have done more to save her…" He sighed against her shoulder.

There came a sharp knocking at the door. Abruptly, Zuko pulled away from her and stood up straight. She watched as his face fell into the Fire Lord's mask of steely determination. "Come!" he said loudly.

An imperial guard entered, bowing. "It is time, my lord," he said.

"Very well." Zuko turned his eyes to Katara imperiously. "Will you be coming, Ambassador?" he asked. There was a subtle note of pleading in his tone.

"Yes, Fire Lord Zuko." The waterbender cast a glance at the imperial guard as she dropped a proper Fire Nation bow. _One always does have to keep up appearances, _she thought wryly. _Oh, the world might be burning down around our ears, but we must maintain decorum, after all!_ The Fire Lord strode out, and Katara followed. She heard the footsteps of the soldier trailing behind her.

The courtyard was much as Katara remembered it, except that the whipping posts had been removed. Instead there was a wooden stake. The waterbender felt her guts clench; she cast a glance at the steel grate that covered the hole in the ground. It had not yet been moved. Did Azula know that she was so close to death, she wondered? They had probably warned her. She saw Suki standing amongst the soldiers. The Kyoshi warrior was in full armor and whiteface, and was even wearing the elaborate hair ornament that marked her high rank. She met her sister-in-law's ice-blue gaze unsmilingly; Katara broke the eye contact after a second or two, sighing and turning away. She took her place a few yards from Zuko, pretty much in the same spot from which she had watched Azula's flogging three weeks before.

At an unspoken signal from the Fire Lord, the metal cover was lifted from the hole, and the prisoner was lifted out.

Azula came out fighting. There was a blast of blue flame! One of the guards fell and lay writhing, clutching at his face. Then Azula vanished under a dogpile of soldiers. There was chaos for several minutes as they struggled to contain her. Even when they finally managed to pin her down on the ground, she could still breathe fire – another soldier went down, howling in agony!

"Muzzle her!" That was Zuko, his cold order cutting through the bedlam like a knife. Katara pulled the cork from her water skin and stood at readiness as Suki dove into the fray. The waterbender could see Azula twisting in the grip of her captors, snarling and snapping and breathing fire like a trapped dragon. Her physical strength had been sapped by her weeks of starvation, but her firebending still made her a force to be reckoned with. Suki's fingers finally tangled themselves in Azula's matted black hair, wrenching her head to one side. The prisoner let out a shriek of frustrated rage as a soldier forced the leather muzzle over her mouth and nose! It was buckled in place. Now the soldiers had the upper hand; Azula's arms were twisted behind her back and chained there. More chains pinned her legs together.

More or less helpless, Azula was reduced to shouting curses and profanities at her brother as she was dragged to his feet. They threw her down on her face; one of the guards pinned her there with a foot in between her shoulder blades. Breathing deeply, Katara closed her water skin and stood up straight, her eyes moving to Zuko's face. He looked angry. "Pull her up," he said coldly. The soldiers dragged the prisoner to her knees. Her yellow eyes were blazing – there was no mockery in them, only raging hatred. "Are you thinking about what you did, Azula?" he asked coolly. "Are you thinking about Mai?"

"You think you've won," she spat, jerking her hands in their chains. Her words were muffled by the muzzle. "Well, I know better, _Zuzu! _You're weak. You've always been weak! And when your loyal supporters figure that out, they'll pick you apart like the buzzard-wasps they are!"

"You're asking for another beating," he said. His voice was cold.

"Why? You think it'll make you feel better? You think it'll bring back your precious little Mai?" Azula sneered. "She _deserved_ to die. The fool – choosing you over me!"

"You're done, Azula." Zuko gestured. The guards caught Azula by her bound arms and hauled her to her feet; Suki stepped forward and threw a number of precise jabs at the prisoner's back. Azula snarled in pain and fury as her firebending chi was cut off. "Carry out the sentence!" the Fire Lord ordered.

There was sharp pain in Katara's hands. She looked down to see that her own nails were digging into her palms; she forced her fists to unclench. She began drawing deep, deliberate breaths as they dragged Azula to the stake and tied her to it with chains. The captive was snarling and cursing them through her teeth, still trying fruitlessly to lash out with her bound limbs. Memories flashed through Katara's mind as she watched. _Fleeing in desperate terror before the Fire Nation tanks, on and on throughout the night, growing more and more exhausted as their hunters came ever closer…the mocking laughter of the Fire Princess as the hands of her two lackeys dragged Katara to prison, just before Ba Sing Se fell…Azula's sneering face as Aang plummeted from the sky, shot down by a merciless bolt of lightning…her wild laughter as Zuko lay twitching and dying on the ground during the Agni Kai…Mai's scream of denial, just before Suki's blade struck her down...little Zulie's tears. _The waterbender felt her heart grow very cold. _Zuko's right. Azula doesn't deserve to be shown mercy._

The soldiers – with Suki there among them – began to toss bundles of sticks and hay about the foot of the stake. They buried the prisoner up to her knees in tinder. Then longer bundles of sticks were tied to the captive's body, so that she was encased in wood up to her waist. Azula's epithets began to be directed against her brother again, her voice choked with rage. Katara looked at him, concerned; his face was still cold. She couldn't find any trace of conflict in his golden eyes.

One of the soldiers began to tie a rope around Azula's neck. This was a measure of mercy, since the noose would strangle her before the flames could fully do their work. Zuko held up a hand. "No," he said, and the guard paused. "Take it off," the Fire Lord ordered. "She wanted to burn, so let her burn." Katara's eyes widened. She glanced at Suki; the Kyoshi warrior was off to one side, watching, her arms folded across her chest. Her eyes were fairly glowing with bloodlust – her red-painted lips were smirking.

Azula swore fluently, the string of curses going on for at least a minute. "You'll pay for this," she snarled at Zuko, squirming in her chains. "You think death will stop me? I'll find a way. I'll get you. I'll make you pay!"

He didn't flinch. "Light her up."

Everyone backed away from the stake. There was silence as two soldiers stepped forward and assumed firebending stances. Even Azula said nothing, her amber eyes glaring their futile rage over the leather facemask. Twin blasts of fire shot out, striking the tinder at the prisoner's feet! Katara flinched and turned her face away, squeezing her eyes shut. She could hear the crackle of the flames as they devoured the dry fuel.

Azula began to laugh. It was almost more horrible than if she had screamed – the laughter was high and hysterical. It reminded Katara painfully of the way the former Fire Princess had shrieked and babbled when her mind had snapped at the Agni Kai. She dared to look again. Azula was engulfed in flames to her waist; her head was thrown back and rocking from side to side in time to her peals of laughter. Shuddering, Katara looked toward her sister-in-law. Suki stood like a statue, her eyes narrowed and fixed unwaveringly on the doomed prisoner. She was still smiling coldly. The waterbender bit her lips.

When the laughter faded into agonized howls, Katara could stand it no longer. She clapped her hands over her ears to block out the sounds. _Oh, Toph, I wish you were here! _She could feel herself trembling. The heat of the fire grew almost unbearable after a while – she dared to lower her hands again. There was silence, but for the roaring of the hungry flames. Katara slowly looked up. The flames were already leaping six or seven feet in the air, effectively hiding what they were consuming in walls of shimmering heat and light. She could make out the vague outlines of the stake, and an indistinct form chained to it, but nothing more. Her stomach lurched – she had to turn away to control her nausea. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to run away, to plunge into the welcoming sea and purge all the horrible sounds and sights and smells of the past few weeks from her soul. _At least it was done. She knew, now._

_Azula would trouble them no more._

Katara was through - she was done with all this intrigue and vengeance and violence! She bowed half-heartedly in Zuko's direction – knowing that he didn't even see her. She glanced at Suki then, but the Kyoshi warrior still hadn't moved. With a sigh, Katara turned away and left the courtyard behind. Her steps echoed in the lonely halls as she headed for her quarters.

It was over. Now all she wanted was to go home.


	30. Coda

Katara heard someone calling her name. She slung the last of her bags into the waiting hands of the porter, and turned toward the voice; her brother was coming toward her, grinning, with Suki in tow. "Sokka!" she said softly, smiling as he engulfed her in a bear hug. "I was hoping you'd come to see me off."

"I wouldn't miss it," he said stoutly. "What! Let you fly off in a balloon without so much as a by-your-leave? Never!" His grin grew a bit smaller. "So you're not going to come back for a while, hey?"

"Not for a year at least." Katara shook her head quietly. "I'm getting kind of tired of flitting around all the time, Sokka! It's time for me to actually build a home for myself, instead of just a workplace. For now, that's going to be in Ba Sing Se." The thought of settling down a little made her smile to herself. "I'll come back then, though."

"Yeah – I hear you're going to be Chanya's waterbending master." Suki smiled at her. "It doesn't seem like so long ago that you were teaching Aang! Now you're going to be Sifu Katara again."

The waterbender smiled and nodded. "Well, if this Avatar is half as good at bending as the last one was, Chanya should be a force to be reckoned with by the time she's ten years old!" She laughed a little, glancing over her shoulder at the airship that was waiting to take her to the Earth Kingdom. With a faint sigh, she turned back to her brother and his wife. "I'm going to miss you two."

Sokka grinned again and hugged her, hard. Suki's embrace was gentler. "You won't miss us that much," the Kyoshi warrior said, with the hint of a twinkle in her eye. "Toph might distract you a little…"

Katara felt her cheeks grow warm as she chuckled. "Yeah. She might." They said their goodbyes, and Katara stepped through the door of the airship. They waved to each other one last time; then the door closed, and the balloon lifted off, heading eastward over the ocean.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_I'm home – I'm home! _Katara could barely contain her excitement as the airship touched down. She was back. She was actually _in _Ba Sing Se! She couldn't wait to walk on those familiar streets, to head up to Ty Lee's house to see her. Most of all, though, she couldn't wait to see a certain black-haired earthbender again! Her heart pounded as she waited impatiently for the soldier to finally open the door of the airship.

The sights and sounds of the city assaulted her as she stepped out of the balloon. Darkness was beginning to fall. There was no snow, but the winter air was cold against her face. She pulled her fur-lined blue cloak tighter around her throat. _Well, I'm definitely not in the Fire Nation anymore! _She was about to turn to ask about her luggage when her eye caught sight of a tall figure striding up to her. She barely had time to look up before she was caught up in a hug, her feet actually lifting off the ground. She couldn't restrain a squeak of surprise and merriment as she was spun around. "Toph!" she finally managed, laughing. "Put me down!"

"Now, is that any way to greet a distinguished general?" The earthbender was grinning widely as she set Katara down. "No 'hi, Toph?' No 'I missed you while I was away?' What's the world coming to?"

"Well, if you'd just say hello like a normal person..," the Water Tribe woman said, still laughing. She hugged Toph, hard, with both arms. "Oh, I _missed_ you!" she breathed. "I'm so glad to be back." Her fingertips skimmed lightly over the smooth metal that covered the general's shoulders and back. _She's real. She's solid. I'm really here. _Her eyes teared up as she smiled. "I love you, Toph."

"Heh. You must have missed me or something." The earthbender pulled away and kissed Katara lightly on the bridge of her nose. Her rough hands moved up to Katara's neck, the pads of her thumbs running lightly along the waterbender's dark jawline. "I've got a surprise for you," she said. Her voice was almost shy, her crooked grin just a little less confident than usual. "Are you too tired to go somewhere with me?"

Katara smiled. "If you fixed something up for me and then waited until my balloon landed, the least I can do is go see it," she teased. "Is it a good surprise?"

"Hopefully." Toph turned away from the airship, pulling Katara with her by the arm. "Come on, Sweetness. The servants will take care of your stuff for you." The waterbender allowed herself to be drawn to the waiting carriage. They sat down inside; Toph rested her arm absently around Katara's shoulders. "So how are you?" she asked. "How'd the…well, how'd it go?"

A deep breath expanded Katara's ribs. "She's dead," she said quietly. "Azula's dead, Toph. She's never coming back."

"I hope not." The general's brows drew down in a scowl. "Although with our luck, she's probably already been reincarnated as someone really powerful, and is plotting our demise in diapers somewhere." Katara managed a weak giggle – it was quickly followed by a sigh. Toph's arm tightened around her. "Don't think about that anymore, Princess," she murmured. "It's over. Think about now."

Now _was_ rather agreeable. Katara leaned into her lover and drew her fingers down Toph's arm, feeling the hard muscles underneath her skin. _Her lover. _The words still seemed strange in her mind – strange, but not in the least unpleasant. She sighed happily. "Now's good," she said. "Now's _very_ good." Toph leaned her face in to nuzzle her ear, chuckling softly. Her breath felt warm against Katara's neck.

As they reached the Inner Circle of the city, Toph suddenly pulled away. "I don't want you to see where we're going," she said, pulling a green scarf from an inner pocket. "Here, hold still."

"Hey!" Katara protested, as the scarf went over her eyes. She didn't physically resist, but it did make her nervous. "Toph, I…"

"I won't steer you into any holes, Sugar Queen. Relax." The earthbender's voice was full of amusement as she tied the cloth in place. "I just don't want you to see it until we're there, okay? It would spoil things." Her callused fingers closed around Katara's. "Just chill. Let me handle stuff." The waterbender nodded reluctantly.

It seemed like quite a while before the coach rattled to a halt. Toph's hand left hers, and she felt a rush of unreasonable panic. A few moments later, she heard the door on her left open, and felt the earthbender's strong arm push underneath her fingers. "Hang on to that while you get out, Sweetness. I got you." Katara climbed down awkwardly to the street. Toph took her arm firmly, her fingers intertwining with hers. "All right, let's walk. You just hold on so you don't fall."

The sensation of being blind was a strange one. Katara was suddenly very conscious of her other senses. She could hear the sounds of the street receding behind them, feel the soft crunch of gravel underneath the soles of her shoes, and smell something like wet stone. That scent was probably Toph, she thought, and pressed her nose suddenly against the other woman's arm to confirm it. "Hey!" the earthbender said, in mingled amusement and surprise.

"You smell nice," Katara teased. "Have you started taking baths occasionally?"

"Be nice, you. Do you want your surprise, or not?" She heard the general chuckle. "But I'll take it as a compliment." She grasped Katara's elbow, guiding her around something in her path. "We'll be there soon, Princess. Hang in there." The waterbender could hear the amusement in her voice. "You doing all right?"

"So far." Katara gripped Toph's arm a little harder as she stumbled a bit. "So what's my surprise, Toph?"

"You'll find out in a minute." The earthbender fell silent. Katara began to concentrate on where she was putting her feet. Suddenly, Toph stopped walking, pulling the waterbender to a halt. "We're here, Sweetness." The general's voice was soft and husky. "I hope you like it." And she slipped off the makeshift blindfold. Katara looked – and gasped.

They were in the rock garden in back of the Bei Fong estate. It still had the same eerie beauty that she remembered. The paler stones were glowing in the light of the winter moon, but they weren't what drew her attention. It was the pool – or, at least, what used to be a pool. Now it was a full pond, with a small waterfall, and a fountain in the middle. The effect was spectacular! Katara stared at it in delight for a few minutes before she could catch her breath. "Oh, Toph!" she whispered. Her voice failed her.

"Do you like it?" The earthbender smiled shyly. "I told them to do the best work money could buy, and they promised it looked nice, but of course I couldn't tell…"

"It's beautiful. It's just –" she lifted her hands, "beautiful."

"Good." Toph paused awkwardly. Even in the dim light, Katara could see a blush creeping over her pale cheeks. "That's half the surprise. The other half is…" She stopped, rubbing the back of her neck. A faint curse broke from her lips. "Oh, how the heck am I going to ask this?"

"Ask what, Toph?" Katara cocked her head, focusing on the earthbender's face.

In answer, Toph brought her hand up and brushed her fingers against Katara's throat. Her fingertips found the ribbon and pendant of her betrothal necklace. "I want you to give me that," the earthbender said gruffly. "You give me that, and I'll…I'll give you this." And she grabbed one of Katara's hands abruptly, pressing something into her palm.

Her eyes widening, the waterbender looked down at the object in her hand. It was a choker, its band formed out of a silk ribbon. The pendant was made of cool stone. She brushed her thumb over it in growing wonder. It was smooth to her touch, glinting green even in the moonlight. Slowly, Katara raised her eyes to stare at her lover.

The earthbender shifted from one foot to the other. "Do you like it?" she asked bashfully. "It's…well, it's an emerald I found for you. I was going to put the Earth Kingdom symbol on it, but that seemed sort of cheesy, so I left it…anyway. It's…"

"Toph." Katara's voice was hushed, but it silenced the earthbender all the same. "Toph, are you…are you asking me to…?"

"Yeah." The general was blushing furiously now. "I mean, we don't have to do any formal ceremonies if you don't want to. We're already pretty much living together, and I'm not much for frills and lace anyway. – Or do you want to? Because that would be okay, too. I'd do it, if you wanted. It's your…"

Katara laid a finger against Toph's lips, stopping the earthbender's nervous babbling. Without a word, she undid the catch on her own necklace and lifted it up to rest against Toph's throat. The general's mouth fell open a little as Katara fastened the clasp. The waterbender couldn't help but laugh a little at the delight and amazement that were spreading across Toph's face – she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed the earthbender's jaw softly.

Slowly, a broad grin split the general's face. She fumbled for Katara's hands, took the necklace from them, and fastened it around the waterbender's neck. "I take that as a yes?" she said, her voice low and sultry.

"It's a yes." Katara laughed against Toph's throat, then slipped upward and captured her lips with hers. Electric heat shot through her from every spot on her body that Toph was touching – her mouth, her throat, her hip, and even her knee, where the other woman's leg was brushing up against her. She felt her breath hitch, and broke the kiss, laughing a little. "It's a yes!"

The earthbender held her close. "Do we get our happy ending now, Katara?" she asked. Her grin was sweet and infectious.

"We do," the waterbender said softly, "at least for a while." She pressed her mouth against the seashell-pink lips one more time, then rested her head contentedly on her lover's armored shoulder. "Happily ever after," she whispered.


End file.
